HEIRLOOMS  IN 
MINIATURES 

FIFTH  EDITION 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


http://archive.org/details/heirloonnsinminiaOOwhar 


HEIRLOOMS  IN 
MINIATURES 


ANNE  HOLLINGSWORTH 
WHARTON 


WITH  A  CHAPTER  ON 
MINIATURE  PAINTING 

BY    EMILY    DRAYTON  TAYLOR 

WITH   NUMEROUS   REPRODUCTIONS  OF 
THE    BEST    EXAMPLES    OF  COLONIAL, 
REVOLUTIONARY,  AND  MODERN  MINIA- 
TURE PAINTERS 


PHILADELPHIA  &  LONDON 
J.  B.  LIPPINCOTT  COMPANY 
1902 


BY 


Copyright,  1897 
by 

J.  B.  Lippincott  Company 


TO 


HELEN  BELL 

WHOSE  FRIENDSHIP  WAS 
JOY,  WHOSE  MEMORY  IS 
AN  INSPIRATION 


PREFACE 


To  gather  together  some  interesting  and 
representative  American  miniatures,  and  to 
accompany  them  with  a  brief  record  of  the 
individuals  whom  they  represent,  was  the  first 
intention  of  the  author  of  this  volume.  In  the 
course  of  her  researches,  and  while  in  corre- 
spondence with  families  owning  precious  heir- 
looms in  miniatures,  so  much  of  interest  was 
brought  to  light  with  regard  to  early  American 
painters,  that  this  book  has  grown  into  a 
chronicle  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the 
artists,  as  well  as  of  those  whom  they  por- 
trayed. For  this  divergence  from  her  original 
design  the  writer  feels  that  she  need  make  no 
apology,  in  view  of  the  interest  that  belongs  to 
the  reminiscences  and  anecdotes  which  have 
thus  been  brought  to  light,  our  early  artists 
being  men  of  attractive  personality,  whose 
histories  are  inseparably  connected  with  their 
country's  progress  in  the  arts  and  sciences, 
as  well  as  with  her  Colonial  and  her  Revolu- 
tionary life. 

vii  • 


PREFACE 


Without  in  any  sense  attempting  to  supply 
the  much  needed  history  of  American  art  for 
which  the  writer  has  in  vain  sought  the  libra- 
ries of  Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia, 
she  ventures  to  believe  that  she  here  presents 
many  facts  with  regard  to  the  art  life  of  the 
country  which  are  unknown  to  the  general 
reader,  in  connection  with  much  family  data, 
historical  and  reminiscent. 

The  author  desires  to  express  her  thanks 
to  those  who  have  confided  to  her  care  the 
originals  of  miniatures  which  are  here  repro- 
duced, and  takes  pleasure  in  making  her 
acknowledgments  for  the  use  of  diaries, 
letters,  and  family  data  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Hesselius  Murray,  of  West  River,  Maryland ; 
to  General  Charles  W.  Darling,  of  Utica,  New 
York ;  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Trumbull,  of  Norwich, 
Connecticut,  and  to  Miss  Blanche  Sully,  Miss 
Anna  and  Miss  Mary  Peale,  Mrs.  Henry  S. 
Huidekoper,  Miss  Hannah  M.  Milligan,  Dr. 
Charles  E.  Cadwalader,  the  Honorable  Craig 
Biddle,  Mr.  James  S.  Biddle,  Mr.  Horace  W. 
Sellers,  Dr.  Albert  Peale,  and  Mr.  Walter  P. 
Brown,  of  Philadelphia. 

For  a  valuable  chapter  upon  Miniature 
Painting  as  an  Art  she  is  indebted  to  her 
friend  Mrs.  J.  Madison  Taylor,  of  Philadel- 

viii 


PREFACE 


phia,  some  of  whose  beautiful  miniatures 
adorn  the  pages  of  this  volume. 

While  much  material  has  been  drawn  from 
original  sources,  in  the  form  of  diaries,  let- 
ters, and  recollections,  the  following  author- 
ities have  been  consulted  in  the  preparation 
of  this  book:  Cunningham's  Lives  of  the 
Painters;'*  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress 
of  the  Arts  of  Design  in  the  United  States," 
by  William  Dunlap ;  ''Book  of  the  Artists," 
by  Henry  T.  Tuckerman  ;  '*  Art  and  Artists  of 
Connecticut,"  by  H.  W.  French;  ''History  of 
the  Centennial  of  the  Inauguration  of  Wash- 
ington," by  Clarence  W.  Bowen;  "Life  Por- 
traits of  George  Washington  and  Andrew 
Jackson,"  by  Charles  Henry  Hart;  "  Old  Kent, 
Maryland;"  "  Provincial  Councillors  of  Penn- 
sylvania," by  Charles  P.  Keith;  "Autobiog- 
raphy of  Colonel  John  Trumbull;"  "Life  of 
Gilbert  Stuart,"  and  "  Reminiscences  of  New- 
port," by  George  C.  Mason;  "The  Domestic 
and  Artistic  Life  of  John  Singleton  Copley," 
by  Martha  Babcock  Amory,  and  "The  Life 
of  J.  S.  Copley,"  by  Augustus  Thorndyke 
Perkins. 

A.  H.  W. 

Philadelphia,  November,  1897. 


ix 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I  Page 

Colonial  Art  n 

CHAPTER  II 

Two  Pioneers  in  American  Art    .    .  38 

CHAPTER  III 

Some  Artists  of  the  Revolution    .    .  77 

CHAPTER  IV 

End-of-the-Century  Artists  .    •    .    .  119 

CHAPTER  V 

Malbone  and  Fraser  147 

CHAPTER  VI 

The  Beauty  of  Our  Grandmothers    .  172 

CHAPTER  VII 

Some  Later  Limners  197 


CHAPTER  Vni.    BY  EMILY  DRAYTON  TAYLOR 

Miniature  Painting  as  an  Art    .    .    .  227 

xi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

MRS.  ALEXANDER  BLEECKER,  of  New  York.  Miniature 
by  Edward  Greene  Malbone,  painted  about  1803,  owned  by 
Mr.  Charles  M.  Lea,  of  Philadelphia  Frontispiece 

ARCHIBALD  McCALL.   Miniature  owned  by  Richard  McCall, 

of  Philadelphia,  great-grandson   13 

MARY  McCALL  (Mrs.  William  Plumsted).  Miniature  owned 
by  Mrs.  Edward  Hoffman,  of  Philadelphia,  great-great-niece. 
Dark  eyes  and  hair  and  soft  blue  gown  with  touches  of  yellow  13 

MRS.  PHILIP  ROGERS  (Rebecca  Young  Woodward).  Minia- 
ture by  C.  W.  Peale,  owned  by  a  descendant,  Mrs.  Ridgeley, 


of  Baltimore   19 

MISS  PEGGY  CHAMPLIN  (Mrs.  Benjamin  Mason,  of  New- 
port, Rhode  Island).  Miniature  owned  by  Mrs.  George  C. 
Mason,  of  Philadelphia   26 

MRS.  JACOB  LEISLER  (Elsje  Tymans,  of  New  York).  Minia- 
ture owned  by  great-great-great-great-great-grandson,  Mr. 
A. .Cortland  Van  Rensselaer,  of  New  York.  Blue  gown,  white 
neckerchief  edged  with  lace,  a  muslin  and  lace  cap  on  the 
head,  tied  under  the  chin  with  red  ribbons,  and  a  breast-knot 
of  red  ribbon   26 

MRS.  SAMUEL  EMLEN  (Susan  Dillwyn).  Miniature  owned 
by  Mrs.  G.  M.  Howland,  of  Wilmington,  Delaware   31 

GENERAL  JOHN  CADWALADER   32 

MRS.  JOHN  CADWALADER  (Elizabeth  Lloyd).  Both  minia- 
tures, attributed  to  C.  W.  Peale,  are  owned  by  Mr.  George 
McCall,  of  Philadelphia,  great-grandson   32 

CADWALADER  MORRIS.  Miniature,  probably  by  C.  W. 
Peale,  owned  by  a  descendant,  Miss  Hannah  Morris  Milligan, 
of  Philadelphia   35 

MRS.  SAMUEL  MORRIS  (Hannah  Cadwalader).  Miniature, 
probably  by  C.  W.  Peale,  owned  by  the  same.  Plain  Friends' 
dress,  delicate  complexion  and  fine  coloring;  the  back- 
ground of  gray-green   35 

xiii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 


MRS.  CADWALADER  MORRIS  (Anne  Strettell,  of  Philadel- 
phia)  35 

AMOS  STRETTELL.  Both  these  miniatures  were  painted  in 
England,  and  are  owned  by  Miss  Hannah  Morris  Milligan, 
of  Philadelphia   35 

JANE  GREY  WALL  (Mrs.  Thomas  Shore,  of  Virginia).  Min- 
iature owned  by  Mrs.  Edward  Shippen,  of  Baltimore  ....  36 

JUDGE  AND  MRS.  THOMAS  HOPKINSON,  of  Philadelphia. 
Miniatures  in  possession  of  great-granddaughters,  the 
Misses  Coale,  of  Baltimore   42 

MRS.  HENRY  PRATT  (Rebecca  Claypoole).  Miniature  painted 
prior  to  1760,  small,  set  in  a  brooch.  Crimson  gown,  white 
flowers  in  the  hair,  lace  and  pearls  in  the  corsage,  wrap 
edged  with  fur.  Original  owned  by  great-great-grand- 
daughter, Miss  Mary  R,  Croes,  of  Yonkers,  New  York  ....  42 

THE  RIGHT  REVEREND  WILLIAM  WHITE,  of  Philadel- 
phia. Miniature  by  Charles  Willson  Peale,  painted  prior  to 
1770,  owned  by  grandson,  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison  White,  of 
Philadelphia.  Powdered  wig,  bright  blue  coat,  cherry- 
colored  collar,  and  pale  yellow  waistcoat   48 

GEORGE  BRIDGES  (LORD  RODNEY).  Miniature  by  John 
Singleton  Copley,  painted  in  England,  and  now  owned  by 
Mr.  Charles  Henry  Hart,  of  Philadelphia   48 

MRS.  JOHN  CRAIG  (Margaret  M.  Craig).  Miniature,  probably 
painted  abroad,  owned  by  grandson,  Hon.  Craig  Biddle,  of 
Philadelphia.  Full  white  muslin  kerchief,  hair  curled  and 
powdered,  with  blue  ribbon  tied  among  the  luxuriant  curls  .  75 

H.  R.    Miniature  of  a  French  Gentleman  by  Jean  Baptiste 

Isabey,  owned  by  the  Misses  Cushman,  of  Philadelphia  ...  76 

MRS.  JAMES  MONTGOMERY  (Hester  Griffitts).  Miniature 
painted  in  1777  by  C.  W.  Peale,  owned  by  Mrs.  Wharton 
Griffitts,  of  Philadelphia.  Hair  powdered,  blue  corsage 
trimmed  with  pink,  and  white  kerchief   83 

MRS.  CHARLES  WILLSON  PEALE  (Rachel  Brewer,  of  An- 
napolis).   Miniature  by  C.  W.  Peale   83 

MAJOR  JONATHAN  SELLMAN,  of  Maryland.  Miniature  by 
C.  W.  Peale,  in  possession  of  Mrs.  M.  D.  Iglehart,  of  David- 
sonville,  Ann&  Arundel  County,  Maryland   90 

COLONEL  JOHN  NIXON.    Miniature  by  C.  W.  Peale,  owned 

by  Mrs.  Cooper  Smith,  of  Philadelphia   90 

COLONEL  JOHN  LAURENS,  of  South  Carolina.  Miniature  by 
C.  W.  Peale,  belongs  to  Henry  R.  Laurens,  Esq.,  of  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina   90 

xiv 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 


COLEMAN  SELLERS,  of  Philadelphia  loo 

MRS.  COLEMAN  SELLERS  (Sophonisba  Peale).  Cabinet  size  loo 

FAITH  ROBINSON  (afterwards  Mrs.  Jonathan  Trumbull),  of 
Connecticut.  Miniature  in  possession  of  descendants  living 
in  Pomfret,  Connecticut  102 

FAITH  TRUMBULL  (Mrs.  Daniel  Wadsworth),  of  Hartford. 

Miniature  by  John  Trumbull,  in  Yale  College  collection  ...  102 

GENERAL  NATHANAEL  GREENE,  1792.  Miniature  by  John 
Trumbull,  in  Yale  College  Collection  113 

MRS.  JOHN  TRUMBULL,  wife  of  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  the 
artist.  Miniature  by  Elkanah  Tisdale,  owned  by  Mr.  Jona- 
than Trumbull,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut.  Brown  hair, 
delicate  coloring,  white  cap  with  pale  blue  ribbons,  black 
gown  115 

JOSEPH  ANTHONY,  JUNIOR.  Miniature  attributed  to  his 
cousin,  Gilbert  Stuart,  owned  by  great-granddaughter,  Miss 
Mary  B.  Smith,  of  Philadelphia.  Brown  hair,  florid  com- 
plexion, blue  velvet  coat,  white  stock  M4 

CHRISTOPHER  GREENUP,  of  Kentucky.  Miniature  painted 
by  James  Peale  in  1797,  owned  by  great-granddaughter,  Miss 
Fanny  Hagnor,  of  Annapolis,  Maryland  127 

TENCH  FRANCIS.    Miniature  by  James  Peale,  signed  "J.  P., 


1798,"  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Howard  Gardiner,  of  Philadel- 
phia.    Hair  powdered,  brown  coat,  with  white  vest  and 
stock,  with  red  ribbon  tied  around  stock ;  background  light  .  127 
REVEREND  JOHN  BRECKINRIDGE.    Miniature  by  John 
Sartain,  painted  in  Philadelphia  in  1835,  owned  by  Emily 


Sartain.    Dark  hair  and  black  coat ;  background  dull  red  .  .  129 
JAMES  MONROE.   Miniature  painted  by  Sene  in  Paris  in  1794, 
owned  by  Mrs.  Gouverneur,  of  Washington,  D.  C.  Powdered 
hair,  blue  coat  trimmed  with  red,  delicate  lace  ruffles,  and 

.gray-green  background  129 

JAMES  MACKUBIN,  of  Maryland.  Miniature  painted  by 
James  Peale  in  1798,  owned  by  the  Misses  Walton,  of  An- 
napolis, Maryland,  great-great-granddaughters  131 

COLONEL  TOBIAS  LEAR.  Original  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
Wilson  Eyre,  granddaughter.  Miniature  two  and  a  half 
inches  in  length,  surrounded  by  a  double  row  of  pearls  ...  131 

MRS.  ALEXANDER  MACOMB  (Catharine  Navarre),  of  New 
York.  Miniature  by  John  Ramage,  owned  by  Mrs.  Daniel 
L.  Trumbull,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut,  granddaughter.  Hair 
rolled  high  and  powdered  ;  gown,  peach-colored  brocade  with 

white  lace  upon  the  corsage  ,  134 

XV 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

GENERAL  JOHN  JEREMIAH  VAN  RENSSELAER,  of  New 
York.  Miniature  by  John  Ramage,  owned  by  descendant, 
Dr.  John  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  of  Brighton,  Staten 
Island.  Uniform,  scarlet  coat  of  corps  of  Albany  Burgesses, 
of  which  General  Van  Rensselaer  was  Colonel  134 

DR.  ARCHIBALD  BRUCE,  of  New  York.  Original  by  Saint 
Memin,  owned  by  Mr.  A.  Cortland  Van  Rensselaer,  of  New 
York  X39 

CHRISTOPHER  GRANT  CHAMPLIN,  of  Newport,  Rhode 
Island.  Original  by  Saint  Memin,  owned  by  Mrs.  George  C. 
Mason   139 

ELEANOR  CLIFTON.   Original  owned  by  Mr.  George  V^. 

Wharton,  of  Philadelphia  139 

MRS.  DAVID  HAYFIELD  CONYNGHAM  (Mary  West).  Min- 
iature by  Robert  Fulton,  owned  by  Mrs.  William  Bacon 
Stevens,  granddaughter.  Small  miniature  set  in  a  ring. 
Painted  with  the  lady's  own  hair  ground  fine  and  applied 
with  a  brush  141 

MRS.  JOHN  FISHBOURNE  MIFFLIN  (Clementina  Ross). 
Original  enamel  by  William  Birch,  owned  by  Mrs.  Charles 
S.  Bradford,  of  Philadelphia.  Fair  complexion,  blonde  hair, 
white  gown  with  pale  pink  ribbons ;  background  gray,  with 
light  clouds  141 

JAMES  H.  HEYWARD,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Min- 
iature fine  in  color  and  drawing  150 

MRS.  JAMES  H.  HEYWARD  (Decima  Cecilia  Shubrick).  Dark 
eyes  and  hair,  bridal  veil  with  tiara  of  pearls  in  the  hair. 
Both  of  these  miniatures,  by  Edward  G.  Malbone,  are  owned 
by  Mrs.  Winfield  J.  Taylor,  of  Baltimore  150 

MRS.  PAUL  TRAPIER  (Sarah  Alicia  Shubrick).  Miniature  by 
Edward  Greene  Malbone,  owned  by  grandson,  Mr.  William 
Hayne,  of  Jackson,  Mississippi  152 

MRS.  GULIAN  C.  VERPLANCK  (Eliza  Fenno),  of  New  York. 
Miniature  by  Edward  G.  Malbone,  owned  by  Mrs.  Benjamin 
Richards,  of  New  York  155 

MATILDA  HOFFMAN.    Miniature  by  Edward  G.  Malbone, 

owned  by  Mrs.  George  S.  Bowdoin,  of  New  York  155 

RACHEL  GRATZ  (Mrs.  Solomon  Moses).  Blue  eyes,  blonde 
hair,  and  delicate  coloring,  simple  waist  of  white  dotted 
muslin  160 

REBECCA  GRATZ.   Dark  eyes  and  hair,  white  muslin  waist. 
Both  of  these  miniatures,  by  Edward  G.  Malbone,  are  owned 
by  great-nieces,  the  Misses  Mordecai,  of  Philadelphia  ....  160 
xvi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

JOSEPH  KIRKBRIDE  MILNOR.  Miniature  by  Edward  G. 
Malbone,  owned  by  Miss  Fanny  G.  Milnor,  of  Long  Island, 
New  York   164 

MRS.  CHARLES  WILLING  HARE  (Anne  Emlen).  Miniature 
by  Edward  G.  Malbone,  owned  by  the  Misses  Hare,  of  Phila- 
delphia, granddaughters  164 

COLONEL  WILLIAM  DRAYTON,  of  South  Carolina.  Minia- 
ture by  Charles  Eraser,  owned  by  Emily  Drayton  Taylor,  of 
Philadelphia,  great-granddaughter  167 

MARY  THEODOSIA  FORD,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina. 
Miniature  painted  by  Charles  Eraser  about  1829,  owned  by 
Miss  Emma  Ravenel,  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  Brown 
eyes,  light  brown  hair,  with  pink  and  white  flowers  in  the 
hair;  blue  gown,  with  white  kerchief  bordered  with  tam- 
bour work,  jet  earrings  and  necklace  ;  an  India  scarf  thrown 
over  the  arm ;  background  gray  and  blue  sky,  with  foliage 
on  the  right  side.   Signed  C.  F  167 

SAMUEL  MILLIGAN.  Miniature  by  J.  Robinson,  owned  by  Miss 
Hannah  M.  Milligan,  of  Philadelphia,  daughter.  Fine  draw- 
ing and  color,  brown  hair  and  eyes ;  frame  of  fine  gold  filigree  i6g 

JAMES  WILLIAMS.  Miniature  by  Benjamin  Trott,  owned  by 
his  granddaughter,  Miss  Alice  Cooper,  of  Philadelphia.  Deli- 
cate flesh  tints ;  background  of  blue  sky  with  light  clouds    .  169 

MRS.  WILLIAM  W.  YOUNG  (Martha  Wetherill).  Miniature 
by  George  Hewitt  Cushman,  owned  by  Miss  Rebecca  Weth- 
erill, of  Philadelphia,  sister  X74 

MRS.  RICHARD  WORSAM  MEADE  (Margaret  Coates  Butler, 
of  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey).  Miniature  by  George  A, 
Baker,  owned  by  Miss  Margaret  Butler  Meade,  of  Philadel- 
phia, granddaughter  174 

MADAME  LALLEMAND  (Harriet  Clark).  Miniature  by  Anna 
Claypoole  Peale,  owned  by  Mr.  Clarence  Bement,  of  Phila- 
delphia. Brown  hair,  blue  eyes,  blue  gown,  and  gray-green 
background,  similar  in  color  to  those  used  by  James  Peale    .  xgo 

MRS.  RICHARD  HARLAN  (Margaret  Hart  Simmons).  Min- 
iature by  Anna  C.  Peale,  owned  by  a  descendant,  Mrs.  John 
Rodgers,  of  Burlington,  New  Jersey  xgo 

ANGELICA  VALLAYE.  Miniature  by  Anna  C.  Peale,  owned 
by  Mr.  Clarence  Bement.  Delicate  flesh  tints,  white  gown 
with  blue  ribbons  ;  background  of  blue  sky  with  light  clouds  xgo 

MRS.  EDWARD  BIDDLE  (Jane  Josephine  Sarmiento).  Minia- 
ture by  George  Freeman,  owned  by  her  son,  Mr.  Edward  Bid- 
die,  of  Philadelphia.   Dark  hair  and  eyes,  delicate  complex- 
ion, black  gown  with  white  tulle  veil  thrown  over  the  head  .  xgs 
xvii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 


FITZ-WILLIAM  SARGENT.  Miniature  by  Sarah  Goodridge, 
owned  by  Miss  Elizabeth  B.  Pleasants,  of  Philadelphia, 
great-niece  198 

CHARLES  M.  POPE.  Miniature  by  Nathaniel  Jocelyn,  owned 
by  Mrs.  J.  Marx  Etting,  of  Philadelphia,  daughter.  Fine  in 
drawing  and  color  198 

MRS.  J.  GREEN  PEARSON,  of  New  York  (Eliza  Bond).  Min- 
iature by  Charles  C.  Ingham,  painted  about  1824,  owned  by 
son-in-law,  Mr.  P.  Kemble  Paulding,  of  Cold  Spring,  New 
York  201 

MRS.  HENRY  BEEKMAN  LIVINGSTON  (Anne  Hume  Ship- 
pen),  of  New  York.  Miniature  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Edward 
Shippen,  of  Baltimore  202 

ELIZABETH  CARTER  FARLEY.  Miniature  by  Richard  Brid- 

port,  owned  by  Mrs.  Edward  Shippen,  of  Baltimore  202 

THE  HONORABLE  AND  MRS.  JASPER  YEATES.  Minia- 
ture owned  by  Dr.  John  H.  Brinton,  of  Philadelphia,  de- 
scendant. Fine  color ;  background  of  dark  red ;  miniatures 
set  in  rich  frames  of  pearls  and  jet  205 

MRS.  WILLING  FRANCIS  (Maria  Bingham  Willing).  Min- 
iature attributed  to  George  Freeman,  owned  by  Mrs.  John 
Thompson  Spencer,  of  Philadelphia,  niece.  Large  full  gray 
eyes,  golden  hair,  delicate  coloring,  white  gown  with  gold 
and  jewelled  girdle,  scarf  of  pale  pink  crepe ;  blue  back- 
ground, shaded  into  deep  blue-gray  cloud  effect  207 

ALEXANDER  I.  OF  RUSSIA.    Scarlet  collar,  blue  ribbon,  and 

orders  210 

MARIA  LOUISA  OF  BADEN,  Empress  of  Russia.  Blonde 
hair,  blue  ribbon,  and  orders.  Both  of  these  miniatures, 
painted  in  Russia  by  Edward  Miles,  are  owned  by  his  great- 
grandson,  Edward  S.  Miles,  of  Philadelphia  210 

GEORGE  HEWITT  CUSHMAN,  of  Connecticut.  Miniature 
by  himself,  owned  by  his  daughters,  the  Misses  Cushman, 
of  Philadelphia  213 

REBECCA  WETHERILL.  Miniature  by  George  Hewitt  Cush- 
man, owned  by  Miss  Rebecca  Wetherill.  Brown  curling 
hair,  delicate  coloring,  white  gown  and  blue  scarf  213 

MRS.  SETH  CRAIGE  (Angeline  Shaw,  of  Maine).  Miniature 
by  J.  Henry  Brown,  owned  by  Mrs.  J.  B.  Lippincott,  Senior, 
of  Philadelphia.   Dark  hair  and  eyes,  black  gown  216 

MRS.  HENRY  E.  JOHNSTON  (Harriet  Lane),  of  Baltimore. 
Miniature  by  J.  Henry  Brown,  owned  by  Mrs.  H.  E. 
Johnston.   Blonde  hair,  blue  eyes,  white  gown  with  lace 

bertha  216 

xviii 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

MRS.  WILLIAM  HOWARD  GARDINER,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Thomas  H.  Perkins,  of  Boston,  and  wife  of  the  distinguished 
lawyer,  William  H.  Gardiner,  who  was  called  **the  Horace 
Binney  of  Boston." 

Mrs.  Gardiner's  miniature  was  probably  painted  after  her 
marriage  in  1823,  by  an  Italian  artist,  and  is  now  owned  by 
her  great-grandson,  Edward  Carey  Gardiner,  of  Philadel- 
phia. Dark  hair  and  hazel  eyes,  white  gown,  pearl  orna- 
ments, and  bright  red  scarf ;  background  gray-green    ....  220 

MRS.  ISAAC  HAZLEHURST  (Caroline  E.  Jacobs,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pennsylvania).  Miniature  by  J.  Henry  Brown,  owned 
by  George  A.  Hazlehurst,  of  Philadelphia,  son.  Brown  hair, 
gray  eyes,  delicate  coloring ;  black  velvet  gown  trimmed 
with  lace,  and  red  India  scarf  226 

EDITH  MOORE  TAYLOR,  of  Philadelphia.  Miniature  by 
Emily  Drayton  Taylor,  owned  by  the  same.  Hair  golden 
brown,  eyes  gray-blue,  skin  very  white,  with  high  color ; 
dress  cream  white,  old  lace  scarf,  black  belt,  gray  hat; 
foliage  in  background,  with  blue  sky  showing  on  the  left 
side  of  the  picture  228 

MRS.  CLEMENT  B.  NEWBOLD  (Mary  Scott),  of  Philadel- 
phia. Miniature  by  Emily  Drayton  Taylor,  owned  by  Mr. 
Clement  B.  Newbold.  Hat  leghorn  with  black  plumes,  hair 
rich  brown,  eyes  brown,  skin  very  white  and  transparent, 
with  warm  color,  dress  blue  and  white  E'^riped  with  little 
flowers,  white  mull  and  lace  kerchief ;  foliage  in  background, 
blue  sky,  and  landscape  to  left   230 

MADAME  JEROME  BONAPARTE,  of  Baltimore.  Miniature 
by  Jean  Baptiste  Augustin,  owned  by  the  Honorable  Craig 
Biddle,  of  Philadelphia.  Dark  eyes  and  hair,  white  gown 
with  gold  girdle  and  blue  scarf  232 

Miniature  of  niece  of  Admiral  Coffin,  by  Richard  Cosway,  owned 
by  Miss  Margaret  Jouett  Menefee,  of  Louisville,  Ken- 
tucky  234 

HONORABLE  JOHN  DRAYTON,  of  South  Carolina.  Minia- 
ture by  Richard  Cosway,  owned  by  great-niece,  Emily 
Drayton  Taylor,  of  Philadelphia.  Beautiful  in  color  and 
drawing,  powdered  hair,  dark  gray  coat ;  background  of  blue 
sky  with  light  clouds  234 

RICHARD  WORSAM  MEADE,  of  Philadelphia.  Miniature  by 
Jean  Baptiste  Isabey,  owned  by  Emily  King  Paterson,  of 
Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey.  Hair  powdered,  brown  eyes,  deli- 
cate coloring,  blue  coat,  and  white  stock.  This  miniature  is  set 
in  whole  pearls,  with  a  design  in  hair  and  pearls  on  the  back  236 
xix 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

MRS.  RICHARD  C.  DERBY,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  Min- 
iature painted  by  Edward  Greene  Malbone  about  1799,  owned 
by  great-nephew,  Dr.  William  P.  Derby,  of  Boston  238 

Three  miniatures  by  Edward  Miles,  used  as  examples  of  fine 
drawing  and  composition,  owned  by  Edward  S.  Miles,  great- 
grandson   240 

DR.  S.  WEIR  MITCHELL,  of  Philadelphia.  Miniature  by 
Emily  Drayton  Taylor,  owned  by  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell.  Hair, 
moustache,  and  beard  steel  gray,  eyes  blue,  coat  black ;  back- 
ground soft  gray  242 


XX 


HEIRLOOMS  IN  MINIATURES 


1 

CHAPTER  I.    COLONIAI.  ART 

IN  reviewing  the  conditions  of  life  in  the 
different  Colonies,  those  of  the  South, 
in  which  the  struggle  for  existence  was 
less  rigorous  than  in  the  Northern  settlements, 
would  seem  to  have  offered  a  more  genial 
atmosphere  for  the  development  of  art  than 
the  chill  seaboard  of  New  England.  Virginia, 
with  its  considerable  admixture  of  the  cava- 
lier element  in  its  population,  gay,  debonair, 
beauty-loving,  and  pleasure-loving,  is  the 
Province  which  of  all  others  would  appear 
most  congenial  to  the  Muse  of  the  poet  and 
the  inspiration  of  the  artist.  Yet,  although 
George  Sandys  was  translating  Ovid's  Meta- 
morphoses'* on  the  banks  of  the  James  as  early 
as  1621,  and  Drayton,  in  writing  of  Virginia 
about  the  same  time,  proposed  to 

"  Entice  the  Muses  thither  to  repair  ; 
Entreat  them  gently ;  train  them  to  the  air," 

these  coy  damsels,  for  some  reason,  failed  to 
identify  themselves  with  the  life  and  spirit  of 
the  South  as  did  those  who  inspired  certain 
singers  of  the  Northern  and  Middle  Colo- 
nies.   Nor  did  any  native  artist  of  note  except 

II 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Hesselius  arise  in  those  early  days  to  perpet- 
uate with  pencil  and  brush  the  charms  of  the 
daughters  of  the  Old  Dominion.  Most  of  the 
old  portraits  which  still  adorn  the  homes  of 
Virginia  were  executed  by  Lely,  Kneller,  Van- 
dyck,  Reynolds,  and  other  foreign  artists.  John 
Hesselius  was  living  in  Annapolis,  painting 
portraits  there  and  in  Virginia,  prior  to  1759,  as 
were  Manly  and  Durand  twelve  years  later. 
The  works  of  Manly  seem  to  have  made  no 
permanent  impression.  His  name  is  men- 
tioned in  hand-books  as  a  pioneer  in  American 
art,  while  of  Durand,  who  executed  a  number 
of  portraits  in  Virginia,  Mr.  Sully  says,  His 
works  are  hard  and  dry,  but  appear  to  have 
been  strong  likenesses,  with  less  vulgarity 
of  style  than  artists  of  his  calibre  generally 
possess.**  In  hand-books  of  American  art 
Gustavus  Hesselius  has  for  some  reason  been 
overlooked,  and  all  the  paintings  marked  Hes- 
selius have  been  attributed  to  John  Hesse- 
lius. 

In  the  will  of  Gustavus  Hesselius,  proved 
May  29,  1755,  he  describes  himself  as  a  "  face 
painter,**  and  mentions  a  son  John  as  execu- 
tor.*   From  this  fact,  taken  in  connection  with 


^  Gustavus  Hesselius,  a  Swede,  who  lived  in  Philadel- 
phia between  1744  and  1750,  was,  says  Mr.  John  W.  Jordan, 
"undoubtedly  the  first  builder  of  organs  in  the  Colonies, 
antedating  the  Boston  maker  by  fifteen  years."  Hesselius, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  Moravian  Church,  built  the 
organ  for  the  Moravian  Church  in  Bethlehem  in  1744,  as 
can  be  proved  by  his  bills  for  the  work. 

12 


Mrs.  William  Plumsted 
(Mary  McCall) 
Page  13 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  circumstance  that  Gustavus  Hesselius 
painted  altar  pieces  in  some  of  the  old  churches 
in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  it  is  reasonable  to 
believe  that  some  Southern  as  well  as  several 
of  the  early  Philadelphia  portraits  attributed 
to  John  Hesselius  w^ere  executed  by  his  father, 
who  was  painting  before  the  middle  of  the 
century. 

Among  these  are  portraits  of  Joshua  Mad- 
dox,  a  well-known  Philadelphia  merchant,  and 
his  wife,  and  of  Mrs.  Wallace,  one  of  the 
belles  of  the  Philadelphia  Dancing  Assembly 
of  1748,  all  of  which  are  painted  in  the  style  of 
Kneller,  with  the  broad  shadows  noticeable 
in  the  work  of  that  artist.  This,  and  other 
marked  characteristics,  have  caused  several 
unsigned  portraits  to  be  attributed  to  Hesse- 
lius. Another  of  these  portraits  is  that  of 
Mary  McCall,  whose  attractive  face  also  looks 
forth  from  a  miniature  of  the  day. 

Mary  McCall  married  William  Plumsted, 
who  was  several  times  elected  Mayor  of  Phila- 
delphia. An  Hui  presented  to  the  bride  by 
her  husband  upon  their  wedding  day,  May  27, 
1753?  is  still  preserved  in  the  family.  This 
handsome  adornment,  in  addition  to  being  fur- 
nished with  many  useful  articles  in  solid  gold, 
contains  a  tiny  gold  butter-taster;  which  shows 
that  the  ladies  of  the  olden  time,  despite  the 
stately  elegance  in  which  they  appear  in  their 
portraits,  did  not  consider  it  beneath  their  dig- 
nity personally  to  superintend  their  households, 
even  to  the  tasting  of  butter  in  the  market. 

13 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Mrs.  Plumsted^s  brother,  Archibald  McCall, 
whose  miniature  was  painted  about  the  same 
time,  was  one  of  the  first  East  India  mer- 
chants of  his  day.  His  home,  at  the  corner 
of  Second  and  Union  Streets,  with  its  many 
curios  brought  from  foreign  lands,  and  his 
garden,  in  which  were  gathered  strange  ani- 
mals and  birds,  were  a  delight  to  the  children 
of  the  family  and  the  neighborhood. 

The  portraits  of  Joseph  Pemberton  and  his 
wife,  Anne  Galloway,  daughter  of  Joseph  Gal- 
loway, of  Anne  Arundel  County,  Maryland, 
have  been  assigned  to  Hesselius  in  conse- 
quence of  certain  marked  characteristics  of 
style.  A  quaint  story  has  come  down  to  this 
generation  with  the  portrait  of  Anne  Gallo- 
way. When  Joseph  Pemberton  set  forth  from 
Philadelphia,  like  Ccelebs,  in  search  of  a  wife, 
his  intention  was  to  proceed  to  Virginia  and 
marry  one  of  the  ''Pleasants  girls."  On  his 
journey  he  stopped  in  Maryland,  where  he 
was  hospitably  entertained  at  ''Tulip  Hill.*' 
Here  the  charms  of  Anne  Galloway,  or,  per- 
chance, the  substantial  attractions  of  her 
father's  broad  acres,  so  wrought  upon  his 
youthful  imagination  that  he  journeyed  no 
farther,  and  the  "Pleasants  girls'*  sighed  in 
vain  for  this  particular  lover,  although  they 
apparently  found  others  to  their  liking. 

The  marked  characteristics  of  the  style  of 
Kneller  noticed  in  these  early  portraits  go 
to  prove  that  they  were  by  the  elder  Hesse- 
lius, as  his  son  could  not  have  studied  with 

14 


HEIRLrOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Kneller,  nor  could  he  have  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  many  of  his  paintings,  there  being 
no  record  of  John  Hesselius  having  visited  the 
Old  World  before  the  middle  of  the  century. 

John  Hesselius  has  been  spoken  of  as  a  son 
of  Samuel  Hesselius,  a  Swedish  missionary ; 
but  the  fact  has  lately  been  established  that 
John  Hesselius  was  the  son  of  Gustavus  and 
a  nephew  of  the  two  Swedish  missionaries, 
Samuel  and  Andreas  Hesselius.* 

John  Hesselius  was  living  in  Philadelphia  in 
1749,  as  his  name  appears  in  the  list  of  sub- 
scribers to  the  Philadelphia  Dancing  Assembly 
of  that  year;  but  he  had  evidently  gone  to 
Maryland  some  time  before  1755,  as  he  wrote 
from  Philadelphia  under  date  of  June  26, 
1755- 

**  I  have  been  so  hurried  in  my  affairs  since 
I  came  here,  and  now  since  the  death  of  my 
dear  father,  that  I  hope  you  will  excuse  my 
seeming  neglect  in  not  writing  before.  My 
being  left  executor  of  my  father's  estate  has 
obliged  me  to  remain  and  to  stay  much  longer 
in  Philadelphia  than  I  desired,  but  I  hope 
in  a  fortnight  more  I  shall  be  moving  down 
to  Virginia,  and  as  soon  as  I  can  dispatch  the 
business  I  have  on  hand  there  I  intend  to  come 
to  Maryland,  where  I  have  already  left  niy 
heart." 


*  For  this  information  the  author  is  indebted  to  Mr. 
Charles  Henry  Hart,  of  Philadelphia,  who  has  made  an 
exhaustive  study  of  the  subject. 

15 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Whether  John  Hesselius  had  given  his  heart 
to  some  unrequiting  fair  one  of  Maryland,  or 
whether  he  then  worshipped  at  a  distance,  as 
the  star  of  his  boyhood,  the  woman  who  was 
destined  to  be  his  wife  eight  years  later,  the 
family  chronicle  does  not  relate. 

Mrs.  Henry  Woodward  was  at  this  time 
living  with  her  first  husband  upon  his  estate, 
Bellefield,  on  the  Severn  River.  In  January, 
1763,  Mr.  Hesselius  married  the  widow  of 
Henry  Woodward. 

Mrs.  Woodward  is  described  as  a  woman 
of  strong  and  individual  character  and  deep 
religious  feeling. 

**When,**  says  her  great-granddaughter. 
Miss  Murray,  the  name  of  Methodist  was  a 
reproach,  Mrs.  Woodward  made  them  [the 
Methodists]  welcome  to  Primrose,  and  their 
services  were  often  held  there.  Deeply  at- 
tached to  her  own  Church,  she  beheld  with 
grief  its  low  estate,  and  while  she  welcomed 
these  servants  of  God,  who  came  preaching 
the  pure  Gospel  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in 
its  simplicity  and  fulness,  she  believed  that 
they  were  sent  as  messengers  of  God  to  the 
Episcopal  Church  to  arouse  His  people  from 
their  slumber  and  awaken  them  to  a  higher 
life.  .  .  . 

Several  of  her  most  intimate  friends,  par- 
ticularly her  son-in-law,  Philip  Rogers,  Esq., 
and  Mrs.  Prudence  Gough,  of  Perry  Hall, 
connected  themselves  with  that  society;  but 
when  the  Methodists  finally  separated  them- 

16 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


selves  from  the  Church,  she  remained  true  to 
the  Church  of  her  fathers/'* 

A  portrait  of  Mrs.  Hesselius,  with  two  of 
her  children,  painted  by  her  second  husband, 
represents  a  woman  of  regular  features  with  a 
serene  and  noble  expression  of  countenance, 
justifying  what  her  grandson,  Dr.  Addison, 
says  of  her  distinguished  beauty  in  old  age. 

In  her  Family  Picture,*'  a  long  descriptive 
poem,  Mrs.  Hesselius  sternly  reproves  the 
faults  of  her  fledglings,  while  she  reveals  much 
maternal  pride  and  affection  in  a  series  of 
verses  that  defy  the  scanning  of  the  scholar. 
Harriet  Hesselius,  Charlotte,  who  **  loves  a 
craped  head  and  is  fond  of  a  train,*'  ^*  young 
Caroline,"  whose  frown  often  puts  all  the 
graces  to  flight,"  and  Eliza,  the  child  of  my 
care,"  all  appear  at  length  in  the  maternal 
poem,  as  do  some  of  their  quaint  little  faces  in 
portraits  which  were  the  work  of  the  father, 
John  Hesselius. 

A  charming  miniature  of  Charlotte  Hesselius 
is  preserved  in  her  family  which  is  of  quite 
too  late  a  date  to  have  been  painted  by  her 
father,  who  died  in  1778.  Charlotte,  like  her 
mother,  had  a  turn  for  rhyming,  as  is  proved 
by  a  will  still  extant  composed  by  Miss 
Charlotte  Heselius,  first  wife  of  Thomas  Jen- 
nings Johnson,  Esq.,  and  daughter  of  Heselius, 
the  portrait  limner." 


*  "  One  Hundred  Years  Ago,"  by  Elizabeth  Hesselius 
Murray. 

2  17 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


A  sarcastic,  cleverly  worded  will  is  this,  in 
which  the  fine  humor  of  the  girl  writer  finds 
expression  in  some  of  the  lines,  and  in  which 
the  testator,  William  Farris,  watch-maker  at 
Annapolis,  Maryland,  thus  washes  his  hands 
of  some  of  his  neighborly  grudges : 

**  To  Nancy,  the  darling  of  me  and  my  wife, 
I  give  and  bequeath  the  spinet  for  life. 
Once  I  thought  she  would  play  with  the  help  of  a  master, 
But,  it  grieves  me  to  say,  she  learned  not  a  bit  faster. 
Harry  Woodcock  I  trusted  to  teach  her  to  play, 
But  I  soon  found  'twas  money  and  time  thrown  away ; 
So  she  did  what  was  right,  made  me  save  all  my  pelf,* 
And  picked  out  a  tune  here  and  there  by  herself. 
All  the  town  knows  that  Harry's  a  very  great  liar. 
And  music  from  him  she  could  never  acquire. 
What  a  time  there  has  been  for  his  making  of  money ! 
Like  a  puppy,  he's  missed  it ;  like  a  puppy,  he's  funny. 
Poor  devil,  sometimes,  in  the  midst  of  a  gloom. 
For  a  dinner  he's  forced  to  play  the  buffoon ; 
But  I  still  like  old  Woodcock,  I  vow  and  declare ; 
As  a  proof,  I  shall  leave  him  a  lock  of  my  hair."* 

Charlotte  and  Eliza  Hesselius  were  married 
the  same  night,  the  latter  to  Walter  Dulaney,  Jr. 
Of  this  wedding  a  family  chronicler  thus  writes : 
My  Aunt  Charlotte  was  married  on  the 
same  night  to  Mr.  Thomas  Johnson  (son  of 
the  Governor),  and  a  very  large  company  was 
invited  to  Primrose.  The  bridesmaids  were 
Miss  Sarah  Leitch  (daughter  of  Major  Leitch, 
aid  to  Gen'l  Washington,  who  was  killed  at 
Harlem  Plains ;  she  afterwards  married  my 


*  **  Old  Maryland,"  by  Frank  B.  Mayer. 
i8 


Mrs.  Philip  Rogers 
By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Page  19 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


uncle,  John  Addison) ;  Miss  Murray,  after- 
wards Mrs.  Gov.  Lloyd ;  Miss  Maria  Murray, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Gen'l  Mason,  and  Miss  Crom- 
well, afterwards  Mrs.  Lee.'* 

Miss  Leitch  must  have  been  a  rare  beauty, 
as  one  of  the  wedding  guests,  Mrs.  Belt,  thus 
writes  of  her : 

Miss  Leitch,  with  her  hair  crimped,  looks 
divinely.  Great  preparations  are  making  for 
her  appearance  at  the  Races.  She  has  worked 
herself  a  very  handsome  muslin  gown  with  a 
long  train,  and  fortunately  a  new  cap  and  some 
other  little  articles  of  finery  are  just  arrived 
from  England." 

Another  guest  at  this  wedding  was  Mrs. 
Philip  Rogers,  a  half-sister  of  the  brides,  Eliza 
and  Charlotte  Hesselius,  and  an  own  sister 
of  Harriet  Woodward,  who  married  Colonel 
Edward  Brice.  Rebecca  Young  Woodward 
married  Philip  Rogers  in  1776  at  the  age  of 
twenty.  She  does  not  appear  in  the  Family 
Picture''  of  Mrs.  John  Hesselius,  although  her 
sister  Harriet  is  there, — 

**  Like  the  low,  humble  violet,  content  with  the  shade, 
Nor  envies  the  tulip  its  gaudy  parade." 

The  mother  deals  more  tenderly  with  Har- 
riet than  with  her  other  children,  probably 
because  she  was  a  widow  at  the  time  of  the 
writing,  although  she  later  emerged  from  the 
shade  of  her  weeds  sufficiently  to  marry  Mr. 
Murray. 

A   miniature    of    Mrs.   Philip    Rogers  by 
19 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Charles  Willson  Peale  is  in  the  possession  of 
her  descendants.  Unfortunately,  the  miniature 
is  not  dated,  but  from  the  youthfulness  of  the 
face  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  was 
painted  a  few  years  after  her  marriage.  In  a 
letter  written  to  Mrs.  Walter  Dulaney,  Mrs. 
Rogers  speaks  of  sitting  to  Mr.  Peale  for  her 
miniature,  since  she  desires  it,  Mr.  Peale  being 
soon  expected  in  Baltimore.  Mrs.  Walter  Du- 
laney was  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Richard  Grafton, 
of  New  Castle,  Delaware.  In  one  of  her 
school-girl  letters  to  her  father  from  Phila- 
delphia in  1739  she  tells  him  of  the  progress 
that  she  has  made  in  dancing,  which  she  hopes 
**may  answer  to  the  Expense,  and  enable  me 
to  appear  well  in  any  Polite  Company." 

That  the  Annapolis  life  was  formal  and 
ceremonious  as  well  as  gay  we  gather  from 
various  sources.  Two  of  Mrs.  Walter  Du- 
laney's  grandsons  came  to  Annapolis  from 
London  in  1789.  Dr.  Addison,  in  his  recol- 
lections, gives  the  following  account  of  the 
introduction  of  these  young  men  into  the 
brilliant  Annapolis  circles,  as  an  instance  of 
the  punctilious  observance  of  the  etiquette  of 
the  day : 

My  Uncle  John  and  himself  [young  Walter 
Dulaney]  were  invited  to  an  evening  party. 
After  dinner,  as  was  his  wont,  he  took  an 
airing  in  the  riding  costume  of  an  English 
gentleman,  which  he  had  brought  with  him 
from  England.  It  consisted  of  small  clothes 
of  yellow  buckskin,  blue  coat,  red  cassimere 

20 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


vest,  and  fine  top-boots.  Of  this  swell  cos- 
tume he  appears  to  have  been  vain,  and  on  his 
return  he  did  not  disrobe,  but  presented  him- 
self in  this  trim  to  an  astonished  assembly  of 
elegantly  dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen.  He 
had  not  anticipated  such  a  scene  (which 
equalled  anything  he  had  seen  in  London), 
and  thought  he  could  dress  as  he  pleased. 
Great  was  his  dismay  and  confusion.  He  was 
met  at  the  door  by  his  Grandmamma  Dulaney 
in  highly  offended  dignity.  *  What  do  you 
mean,  Walter,  by  such  an  exhibition?  Go 
immediately  home  to  your  room  and  return 
in  a  befitting  dress.*  And  he  was  very  glad 
to  go,  and  soon  returned  in  silk  stockings, 
embroidered  vest,  etc.  He  told  me  of  his 
great  astonishment  at  the  splendor  of  the 
ladies'  dresses  and  the  adornments  of  the 
apartments.*' 

To  John  Woolaston,  who  painted  in  Phila- 
delphia as  early  as  1758  and  in  Virginia  a  little 
later,  we  are  indebted  for  a  number  of  Colonial 
portraits.  Among  these  is  the  only  portrait 
extant  of  Martha  Washington  in  her  early 
matronhood,  while  Woolaston's  painting  of  the 
grandmother  of  John  Randolph  of  Roanoke  is 
said  to  be  an  excellent  portrait.  Mr.  Charles 
Willson  Peale  says  that  Woolaston  acquired 
his  skill  of  painting  drapery  from  an  English 
artist,  while  Mr.  Dunlap  observed  in  his  style 
suggestions  of  the  influence  of  Kneller,  an 
influence  that  could  have  come  to  Woolaston 
only  from  a  study  of  the  works  of  Kneller. 

21 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


An  interesting  souvenir  of  Woolaston's  stay- 
in  Philadelphia  is  to  be  found  in  The  American 
Magazine  for  September,  1758,  in  the  form  of 
some  verses  written  by  Francis  Hopkinson,  in 
which  his  youthful  enthusiasm  for  the  artist 
and  his  work  found  expression  in  the  following 
lines : 

"  Ofttimes  with  wonder  and  delight  I  stand, 
To  view  the  amazing  conduct  of  your  hand. 
At  first  unlabour'd  sketches  lightly  trace 
The  glimmering  outlines  of  a  human  face ; 
Then  by  degrees  the  liquid  life  overflows 
Each  rising  feature — the  rich  canvas  glows 
With  heightened  charms — the  forehead  rises  fair. 
And  glossy  ringlets  twine  the  nut-brown  hair ; 
The  sparkling  eyes  give  meaning  to  the  whole 
And  seem  to  speak  the  dictates  of  a  soul, 
The  lucid  lips  in  rosy  sweetness  drest. 
The  well-turned  neck  and  the  luxuriant  breast, 
The  silk  that  richly  flows  with  graceful  air — 
All  tell  the  hand  of  Woolaston  was  there." 

John  Woolaston  pursued  his  art  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  and  may  even  have  carried  it  far- 
ther south  into  the  Carolinas,  where  no  native 
artist  of  distinction  appeared  until  the  days  of 
Washington  Allston  and  Charles  Fraser. 

Although  Hesselius,  Woolaston,  and  other 
artists,  native  and  foreign,  were  doing  work  of 
more  or  less  excellence  in  several  of  the  Middle 
and  Southern  Colonies,  it  was  in  New  Eng- 
land, where  the  atmosphere  was  much  more 
strongly  charged  with  theology  than  with  art 
or  beauty,  and  in  Quaker  Pennsylvania,  where 
the  graces  of  character  were  more  assiduously 

22 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


cultivated  than  those  of  form,  that  painting 
was  destined  to  gain  its  strongest  foothold  and 
to  make  its  most  enduring  impression. 

Robert  Feke,  a  Rhode  Island  Quaker,  who 
was  painting  in  Newport  in  1746,  executed 
portraits  of  the  Reverend  John  Callender,  of 
Newport,  and  the  beautiful  wife  of  Governor 
Wanton,  of  Rhode  Island.  He  evidently  vis- 
ited Philadelphia,  as  a  portrait  by  him  of  Mrs. 
Charles  Willing,  wife  of  the  Mayor,  and  one  of 
Tench  Francis,  signed  R.  Feke,  1746,  are  in  the 
possession  of  their  descendants.  The  follow- 
ing romantic  story  told  of  Robert  Feke  may 
contain  some  grains  of  truth : 

**  Feke,  although  of  Dutch  descent,  was  a 
Quaker,  who  joined  the  Baptist  Church  and 
thereby  gave  offence  to  his  father.  The  young 
man  then  embraced  a  seafaring  life,  and  in 
one  of  his  voyages  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Spaniards  and  carried  off  to  Spain. 

While  a  captive  in  that  far-off  land  he 
sought  to  relieve  the  tediousness  of  a  long 
imprisonment  by  some  rude  attempts  at  paint- 
ing. The  sale  of  these  poor  pictures,  after  his 
release,  procured  him  the  means  of  returning 
to  America.'* 

From  the  work  done  by  him  later,  it  looks  as 
if  Feke  had  had  the  good  fortune  to  study 
with  some  of  the  Spanish  masters.  He  died 
in  Bermuda,  at  the  age  of  forty-four  years. 

John  Watson,  a  Scotchman,  was  painting  in 
Philadelphia  some  time  prior  to  1728,  and 
William  Williams  in  1746.    The  former  settled 

23 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


in  Perth  Amboy,  New  Jersey,  and  from  there 
made  visits  to  Philadelphia.  Upon  one  of  these 
sojourns  in  the  Quaker  City  Mr.  Watson  made 
pen-and-ink  sketches  of  Governor  William 
Keith  and  his  wife,  Lady  Anne  Keith.  After 
painting  in  Philadelphia  for  some  time  he  re- 
turned to  Perth  Amboy,  where  he  died  in  1728. 

Two  early  American  artists,  little  known  to- 
day, were  John  Meng  and  Henry  Bembridge. 
John  Meng  was  the  son  of  Christopher  Meng, 
of  Manheim,  Germany,  who  came  to  America  in 
1728  and  settled  in  Germantown,  Philadelphia. 

John  early  developed  a  talent  for  painting, 
which  not  being  encouraged  by  his  father,  he 
left  home  and  went  to  the  West  Indies,  where 
he  died  in  1754  at  the  early  age  of  twenty.  A 
few  of  John  Meng's  paintings  are  still  pre- 
served in  Germantown  families. 

Henry  Bembridge  was  born  in  Philadelphia 
in  1750.  His  parents  were  wealthy  and  en- 
couraged his  taste  for  art.  While  quite  young 
he  painted  the  panels  of  a  room  in  his  father's 
house  with  historical  designs  and  copies  made 
from  the  cartoons  of  Raphael.  These  frescoes 
were  executed  with  such  skill  that  they  at- 
tracted many  visitors  to  Mr.  Bembridge's 
house,  which,  Mr.  Peale  says,  was  in  Lodge 
Alley.  Henry  Bembridge  went  to  Rome  in  1770, 
and  studied  there  for  some  time  under  Pompeio 
Battoni  and  Raphael  Mengs.  On  his  return  to 
America,  about  1774,  he  settled  in  Charleston, 
South  Carolina.  He  afterwards  came  back  to 
Philadelphia  and  married  a  Miss  Sage.  Several 

24 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


small  pictures  of  Commodore  Truxton  and 
family  are  attributed  to  Bembridge,  whose 
son  married  a  daughter  of  the  Commodore.  A 
miniature  by  Bembridge  is  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  William  M.  Tilghman,  of  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  Peale  in  his  recollections*  speaks  of 
Miss  Mary  Wrench,  who  was  painting  minia- 
tures in  Philadelphia  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
thus  antedating  Miss  Goodridge,  the  Boston 
miniature  painter,  by  many  years.  Mr.  Peale 
says  that  he  called  to  see  Miss  Wrench  one 
day,  having  some  curiosity  about  her  work, 
and  after  she  had  shown  the  artist  some  of  her 
miniatures,  he  asked  her  if  she  ever  had  heard 
of  Charles  Willson  Peale.  She  said  that  she 
had,  and  wished  she  could  take  some  lessons 
of  him.  He  replied,  I  am  Mr.  Peale,  and 
will  be  glad  to  give  you  some  lessons.'*  Miss 
Wrench  was  overcome  with  confusion,  and 
said  she  would  never  have  shown  her  work 
had  she  known  that  her  visitor  was  so  distin- 
guished an  artist.  Another  evidence  of  Miss 
Wrench's  modesty,  which  seems  to  us  rather 
strained  in  these  days,  is  that  she  did  not  like 
to  paint  gentlemen's  portraits,  but  was,  as  she 
explained,  constrained  to  do  it  because  she 
needed  the  money.  Miss  Wrench  afterwards 
married  Mr.  Rush  and  painted  no  more.f 

^  These  unprinted  recollections  of  Charles  Willson 
Peale  are  in  the  possession  of  a  member  of  the  family. 

f  This  is  probably  the  William  Rush  who  is  spoken  of  by 
Mr.  Peale  as  a  "modeller."  He  was  by  trade  a  carver  of  ships' 
heads,  and  Dunlap  says  "  by  talent  and  study  an  artist." 

25 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Mr.  Peale  gives  no  opinion  with  regard  to 
the  quality  of  the  work  of  this  early  woman 
miniaturist,  but  the  fact  that  she  supported 
her  family  from  the  proceeds  of  her  painting 
proves  that  she  was  successful  in  obtaining 
orders.  The  prices  then  paid  for  portraits  and 
miniatures  prove  that  the  profession  of  an 
artist  was  not  a  royal  road  to  fortune. 

The  Dutch  settlers,  who  infused  so  much 
industry,  thrift,  and  legislative  sagacity  into 
the  life  of  New  Amsterdam,  seem  to  have 
brought  with  them  little  or  no  artistic  ability. 
The  flowers  and  plants  imported  by  them 
showed  them  to  have  possessed  the  love  of 
beauty  that  belonged  to  a  race  of  great  artists, 
but  the  portraits  of  stiff  and  staid  men  and 
women,  which  adorned  their  homes  in  early 
days  and  are  still  to  be  found  among  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Knickerbockers,  were  exe- 
cuted by  foreign  artists.  Among  such  portraits 
is  a  quaint  old  miniature  of  Elsje  Tymens, 
whose  physiognomy,  as  well  as  her  name, 
bespeaks  her  Dutch  blood.  Elsje  Tymens's 
mother  was  Marritje  Jans,  a  sister  of  the 
celebrated  Anneke  Jans,  of  whom  a  num- 
ber of  spirited  anecdotes  are  related.  Her 
step-father  was  Govert  Loockermans.  Elsje 
Tymens  was  twice  married, — first  to  Pieter 
Corneliszen  Van  der  Veen ;  secondly,  in  1663, 
to  Jacob  Leisler,  who  upon  the  defeat  of  James 
II.  and  the  accession  of  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  the  disturbances  in  New  Amster- 
dam which  followed  these  important  events, 

26 


Mrs.  Jacob  Leisler 
Page  28 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


led  a  rebellion  against  the  authorities.  Leisler 
was  so  successful  in  carrying  the  populace 
with  him  that  he  became  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  and  for 
some  months  exercised  supreme  control. 

A  curious  page  of  Colonial  history  is  pre- 
sented at  this  time,  when  Jacob  Leisler  ruled 
the  Province  with  despotic  power,  although 
not  once  named  in  the  King's  commission. 
Ignored  one  day  by  the  officers  of  the  Prov- 
ince, and  on  another  called  upon  to  aid  them 
against  the  French  and  Indians,  who  were 
continually  menacing  the  northern  and  west- 
ern borders,  he  was  finally  treated  with  an  in- 
justice greater  than  that  which  he  meted  out 
to  others. 

In  the  foreground  the  pictures  are  such 
stalwart  figures  as  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt,* 
Peter  Schuyler,  Mayor  of  Albany,  Colonel 
Nicholas  Bayard,  and,  for  picturesqueness, 
the  royal  Governors,  Nicholson  and  Bella- 


*  Stephanus  Van  Cortlandt  was  Mayor  of  New  York  at 
this  time.  His  authority  was  openly  defied  by  Jacob 
Leisler  and  his  powers  usurped.  When  Leisler  sent  the 
constable  to  Mayor  Van  Cortlandt's  home  to  demand  the 
seals  and  charter  of  the  city,  Madam  Geertruyd  Van  Cort- 
landt, a  sister  of  Mayor  Schuyler,  who  is  described  as  a 
woman  of  commanding  presence  and  manner,  received  the 
committee  with  the  constable  at  its  head  politely,  but 
declined  to  resign  the  symbols  of  her  husband's  authority, 
which  had  been  left  in  her  care,  and  when  the  committee 
retired  and  a  sergeant-at-arms  visited  her,  she  shut  the 
door  in  his  face  and  defied  his  threats. 

27 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


mont,  laced  and  plumed,  while  in  the  back- 
ground stand  heroic  Geertruyd  Van  Cortlandt, 
Madam  Staats,  the  Eastern  beauty,  Anneke 
Jans,  wife  of  the  beloved  Parson  Everardus 
Bogardus,  and  Mrs.  Leisler,  surrounded  by 
her  daughters,  delicate,  golden-haired  Mary 
Leisler,  who,  whether  from  love  or  fear  his- 
tory telleth  not,  married  her  father's  prime 
favorite,  aider,  and  abettor,  James  Milborne, 
and  Hester  Leisler,  who  shares  with  Carolina 
Staats  the  honor  of  being  the  heroine  of  Mr. 
Bynner's  story  of  *'The  Begum's  Daughter/' 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  novelist  chose  for 
the  setting  of  his  tale  the  unique  and  pictur- 
esque town  of  New  Amsterdam,  or  that  he 
placed  it  chronologically  in  this  most  stirring 
period  of  Colonial  life.  Mr.  Bynner's  charac- 
ters are,  as  a  rule,  admirably  drawn ;  but  from 
what  family  tradition  has  handed  down  of 
Mrs.  Leisler  and  her  doings,  she  appears  to 
have  been  a  woman  of  more  force  of  character 
than  the  novelist  has  given  her  credit  for. 

Mrs.  Jacob  Leisler  finally  succeeded,  with 
the  aid  of  her  son  and  her  friends,  and  by 
means  of  one  of  those  sudden  revulsions  of 
popular  feeling  that  often  follow  a  high-handed 
measure  in  government,  in  obtaining  from  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain  a  reversal  of  her 
husband's  attainder.  In  her  miniature,  which 
was  painted  in  her  younger  days  before  the 
blight  of  a  great  sorrow  fell  upon  her  life, 
Elsje  Leisler  appears  with  a  serene  and  un- 
troubled face,  arrayed  in  a  blue  gown  with  a 

28 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


white  neckerchief  and  cap  trimmed  with  lace 
and  red  ribbons.  The  miniature  came  into 
possession  of  its  present  owner  through  Eliza- 
beth Rynders  Bayard,  a  daughter  of  Hester 
Leisler  and  Barent  Rynders,  whose  marriage 
is  the  unexpected  happening  of  Mr.  Bynner's 
story. 

Interesting  and  romantic  incidents,  worthy 
to  engage  the  brush  of  the  artist  or  the  pen  of 
the  novelist,  are  to  be  found  in  the  early  history 
of  all  the  Colonies.  Even  if  later  historians 
are  disposed  to  throw  discredit  upon  the  time- 
honored  story  of  the  proxy  wooing  of  Priscilla 
MuUins  (or  Molines)  by  assuring  us  that  Cap- 
tain Myles  Standish  was  having  a  helpmeet 
imported  for  him  at  the  very  time  that  he  was 
supposed  to  have  placed  his  love  affairs  in  the 
hands  of  John  Alden,  there  were  all  over  New 
England  romances  as  fresh  and  sweet  as  the 
May  flowers  that  starred  her  rocky  hill-sides, 
while  in  Pennsylvania  and  the  Lower  Coun- 
ties Quaker  maidens  won  hearts  and  reigned 
over  them  as  absolutely  as  their  more  gayly 
attired  sisters  in  the  Southern  Colonies. 

A  quaint  old  Delaware  story  is  told  of  the 
wooing  and  winning  of  Katharine  HoUings- 
worth,  daughter  of  Valentine  HoUingsworth, 
one  of  those  who  accompanied  William  Penn 
in  the  Welcome  and  settled  upon  the  banks  of 
the  picturesque  Brandy  wine.  Katharine  Hol- 
lingsworth,  a  lovely,  beautiful,  and  delectable 
Quaker  maiden,''  as  she  was  called,  became 
the  pride  and  delight  of  the  little  settlement. 

29 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Of  all  the  young  men  who  sought  her  love, 
Big  George  Robinson  alone  found  favor  in  her 
eyes,  and  she  promised  to  be  his  wife ;  but 
George  was  of  the  Church  of  England,  and 
Katharine  **must  be  married  in  Meeting/' 
George  was  willing  to  join  the  Society,  be  a 
Friend,  and  be  married  in  Meeting  or  any- 
where else  that  Katharine  said ;  accordingly  he 
and  Katharine  made  their  first  declaration  5th 
day,  ist  month,  1688. 

The  older  Friends  had  ''scruples,"  and 
fearing  that  George's  very  sudden  conversion 
was  not  from  conviction,  they  asked  him  this 
searching  question : 

Friend  Robinson,  dost  thou  join  the  Society 
of  Friends  from  conviction,  or  for  the  love  of 
Katharine  HoUingsworth 

George  hesitated ;  he  was  in  a  dilemma.  He 
did  want  to  marry  his  dear  Katharine,  but  he 
also  prized  the  truth.  He  knew  she  was 
worthy  of  the  best  he  had  to  give,  and,  bracing 
himself  up  for  a  valiant  answer,  he  said,  '*  I 
wish  to  join  the  Society  for  the  love  of  Kath- 
arine HoUingsworth.'* 

The  Friends  consulted  and  counselled  "delay, 
and  that  Friend  Robinson  should  be  gently, 
persuasively,  and  instructively  dealt  with.'' 

Katharine  naturally  proved  the  most  suc- 
cessful of  teachers  in  this  extremity.  In  a 
year  George  was  ready  to  join  the  Society 
as  a  true  convert.  We  read  that  "  He  and 
Katharine  were  permitted  to  begin  a  long  and 
happy  married  life  together,  being,"  as  the 

30 


Mrs.  Samuel  Emlen 
(Susan  Dillwyn) 
Page  33 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


old  manuscript  says,  **for  many  years  an 
example  of  Piety  and  Goodness  to  those 
around  them,  and  retaining  their  Love  of 
Truth  and  Loyalty  to  the  Society  to  the  last." 

Another  Quaker  maiden  who  carried  her 
charms  to  the  Friends'  Meeting  at  Third 
Haven,  near  Talbot  Court-House,  was  Sarah 
Covington,  of  Somerset  County,  Maryland, 
who  was  seen  on  her  way  thither  and  loved 
at  first  sight  by  two  gay  young  cavaliers,  Ed- 
ward and  Philemon  Lloyd.  According  to  the 
story  told  by  Dr.  Palmer,  the  two  brothers 
met  at  the  gate  of  the  fair  one's  home.  "  First 
they  swore,  then  they  blushed,  and  then 
they  laughed  loud  -and  long.  Phil  said,  *  Let 
her  be  for  whichever,  you  or  I,  did  see  her 
first;'  and  Ned,  the  elder  and  the  heir,  as- 
sented. *  No  sooner  had  I  taken  my  place 
in  the  meeting  than  I  beheld  the  girl  and 
loved  her.'  And  Ned  said,  *  I  passed  the 
night  before  the  meeting  at  the  Peach  Blos- 
som farm,  and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  turning 
into  the  gate  at  the  watermill,  I  saw  this 
girl  on  a  pillion  behind  her  father,  and  they 
inquired  the  way  to  the  meeting-house ;  and 
I  loved  her.'  Then  Phil  rode  back  to  Talbot, 
and  Ned  dismounted  at  the  gate  and  led  his 
horse  to  the  porch.  Thus  in  1703  Sarah 
Covington  became  the  wife  of  the  heir,  and 
mistress  of  Wye  House."* 


*  "  Certain  Worthies  and  Dames  of  Old  Maryland,"  by 
John  Williamson  Palmer. 

31 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


From  this  fair  Quakeress  were  descended 
many  of  the  beauties  of  Wye  House.  A 
granddaughter  of  Sarah  Covington,  Elizabeth 
Lloyd,  married  General  John  Cadwalader,  of 
Philadelphia,  a  distinguished  soldier  of  the 
Revolution,  and  their  daughter  Maria  came 
back  to  her  mother's  native  State  as  the  wife 
of  Samuel  Ringgold,  of  Fountain  Rock.* 

Although  the  attractions  of  young  Quaker- 
esses have  been  dwelt  upon  by  many  travellers 
from  the  early  days  of  the  settlement  to  later 
times,  when  beautiful  Polly  Lawton  led  captive 
the  hearts  of  the  French  officers  in  Newport, 
few  of  them  have  had  their  charms  perpetuated 
in  portrait  or  miniature.  The  rarity  of  such 
pictures  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  painting  of  portraits,  large  or  small,  was 
considered  a  worldly  vanity  by  many  Friends. 
Some  good  Quakers,  however,  during  visits  to 
London  or  Paris  indulged  in  this  vanity  for  the 
gratification  of  wives  and  daughters  at  home. 
The  costumes  in  which  these  worthy  gentle- 
men appeared  in  their  portraits  sometimes 
shocked  their  Friendly  relatives.  Samuel 
Wharton's  court-dress  of  sky-blue  satin 
trimmed  with  lace  was  very  un-Quakerlike, 
while  Samuel  Powel  was  represented  in  his 
miniature  in  apparel  so  gay  that  it  excited 


^  Elizabeth  Lloyd  Cadwalader  died  in  early  matronhood, 
and  General  Cadwalader  married,  secondly,  Williamina 
Bond,  who  inherited  the  distinguished  beauty  of  her  grand- 
mother, Williamina  Moore,  of  Moore  Hall,  Pennsylvania. 

32 


General  John  Cadwalader 
Page  32 


Mrs.  John  Cadwalader 
(Elizabeth  Lloyd) 
Page  32 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


"remark"  among  Friends,  one  of  whom 
charitably  concluded  that  Sammy  did  not 
dress  like  that,  but  that  one  of  those  artists 
had  dressed  him  up  to  have  his  picture  taken." 

Among  the  few  miniatures  of  Quaker  women 
that  have  come  down  to  this  generation  are 
those  of  Susan  Emlen  and  Hannah  Morris. 
Neither  of  these  portraits  was  painted  in  early 
youth  ;  but  both  reveal  a  beauty  of  feature  and 
a  charm  of  expression  that  in  some  faces  age 
seems  powerless  to  wither  or  custom  to  stale. 

Mrs.  Emlen  was  a  daughter  of  Sarah  and 
William  Dillwyn  and  a  granddaughter  of 
James  Logan,  of  Stenton,  among  whose  many 
claims  to  distinction  not  the  least  is  that  he 
was  long  the  private  secretary  and  close  friend 
of  William  Penn.  Mrs.  Emlen  is  described 
as  a  woman  of  rare  loveliness  of  character,  a 
worthy  helpmeet  to  her  husband,  Samuel 
Emlen,  who  was  an  eminent  minister  of  the 
Society  of  Friends.  Their  home  was  West 
Hill,"  Burlington  County,  New  Jersey. 

Mrs.  Samuel  Morris  was  so  beautiful  that 
she  was  called  the  Rose  of  Sharon,"  and 
although  her  miniature  was  not  painted  until 
she  had  passed  her  sixtieth  year,  it  bears 
traces  of  the  loveliness  for  which  she  was 
distinguished  in  early  days.  A  daughter  of 
the  first  John  Cadwalader,  and  wife  of  Samuel 
Morris,  vice-president  of  the  Council  of 
Safety,  she  belonged  to  a  family  of  Quakers 
''sufficiently  enlightened,"  to  use  the  words 
of  the  family  chronicler,  **to  understand  that 
3  33 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


they  served  God  best  by  doing  their  duty  to 
their  country  in  her  hour  of  need."* 

Mrs.  Morris  seems  to  have  possessed  many 
graces  of  character  as  well  as  of  form,  among 
these  the  domestic  virtue  of  good  house-keep- 
ing, which  dates  back  to  the  days  of  Solomon. 
She  and  her  husband  entertained  most  hos- 
pitably at  their  country  place,  which  was  near 
the  estate  of  their  brother-in-law,  Samuel 
Dickinson,  especially  during  the  Yearly  Meet- 
ing, upon  which  occasion,  says  the  same 
pleasant  narrator,  eighty  beds  were  often  pre- 
pared for  guests,  and  a  stock  of  a  hundred  pies 
and  puddings  baked. 

The  miniature  of  Mrs.  Morris  was  painted 
for  her  son,  Cadwalader  Morris,  during  his 
absence  in  the  West  Indies. 

A  miniature  of  Cadwalader  Morris  has  been 
preserved  among  his  descendants,  and  we 
learn  from  contemporaneous  records  that  he 
was  not  only  sufficiently  liberal  in  his  views 
to  have  his  portrait  painted,  but  that  he  be- 
longed to  the  First  Troop,  Philadelphia  City 
Cavalry,  which  did  good  service  during  the 
War  of  the  Revolution.  Another  portrait 
of  Cadwalader  Morris  is  to  be  found  upon  a 
large  canvas  by  Trumbull,  in  which  he  com- 
memorated the  resigning  of  his  commission 
by  Washington  at  Annapolis  in  1783. 

The  wife  of  Cadwalader  Morris  was  Anne 


^  Recollections  of  Mrs.  Charles  M.  Wheatley,  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  Mrs.  Samuel  Morris. 

34 


Cadwalader  Morris 
Page  34 


Mrs.  Samuel  Morris 
Page  33 


Mrs.  Cadwalader  Morris 
Page  35 


Amos  Strettell 
Page  35 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Strettell,  who  was  described  as  the  best  edu- 
cated woman  in  Philadelphia.  Miss  Strettell 
was  educated  abroad,  having  lived  in  London 
during  her  early  years  with  a  middle-aged 
bachelor  uncle,  John  Strettell,  who  was  spoken 
of  as  an  opulent  merchant  of  Lime  Street. 
After  Miss  Strettell  had  brought  her  charms 
and  accomplishments  to  her  native  city  to 
lead  captive  the  heart  of  Cadwalader  Morris, 
Mr.  John  Strettell  married  and  had  two  sons.  . 
The  miniature  of  one  of  these  sons,  Amos 
Strettell,  was  sent  to  his  Philadelphia  rela- 
tives, by  whom  it  is  still  preserved. 

The  miniatures  of  Mrs.  Samuel  Morris  and 
her  son  Cadwalader  were  painted  late  enough 
in  the  century  to  have  been  the  work  of  James 
Peale. 

Some  curious  directions  with  regard  to  copy- 
ing a  portrait  in  miniature  of  a  young  wife 
have  been  found  in  a  letter  from  a  Maryland 
gentleman  to  his  son  in  London.  The  portrait 
of  the  wife,  who  had  recently  died,  was  evi- 
dently the  work  of  John  Hesselius,  and  was 
sent  by  the  father  of  the  lady,  the  Reverend 
Henry  Addison,  of  Barnaby  Manor,  Maryland, 
to  London  to  be  copied,  with  the  following 
instructions : 

I  could  wish  it  to  be  done  by  one  of  the 
best  artists.  It  is  to  be  set  in  gold,  with  a 
view  of  being  worn  suspended  by  a  riband 
round  the  neck.  The  features  must  be  exactly 
preserved.  The  artist  may  exercise  his  fancy 
with  Respect  to  the  Drapery,  which  is  rather 

35 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


glaring  in  the  piece  be  is  to  copy  from.  He 
may  be  told  that  the  lady,  having  married,  died 
at  twenty-five,  and  therefore  something  som- 
bre and  funereal  in  the  Drapery  might  be 
proper.  The  dress,  I  think,  ought  to  be  an- 
tique, and  the  hair,  which  appears  powdered, 
might  be  darkened  and,  being  somewhat  dis- 
hevelled, brought  obliquely  across  the  breast. 
The  gold  frame  must  bear  the  following  in- 
scription :  '  Eleanor  Callis,  ob.  March  26,  1724, 
set.  25.    Ah  optime  si  tut  obsistasP 

*'You  must  also  send  four  lockets  for  ladies 
to  be  worn  about  the  neck,  with  a  crystal  in 
each,  covering  an  urn  made  of  the  hair  I  send 
you  herewith,  bearing  the  same  inscription, 
with  two  plain  mourning  rings  for  Mr.  Callis 
and  your  brother,  with  an  urn  covered  with 
crystal  and  the  same  inscription.*' 

Fortunately,  the  artist  did  not  accept  the 
'^sombre'*  suggestions  further  than  to  change 
the  pink  dress  to  purple. 

A  charming  miniature  from  Virginia  is  that 
of  Jane  Grey  Wall,  who  married  Thomas 
Shore,  of  Petersburg,  and  was  the  mother  of 
Mary  Louise  Shore,  who  became  the  wife  of 
Dr.  William  Shippen,  of  Philadelphia.  Dr. 
Shippen,  who  was  demonstrator  of  anatomy 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  was  a 
grandson  of  Dr.  William  Shippen,  who  gave 
the  first  lecture  on  anatomy  delivered  in 
America.  It  was  of  this  Dr.  Shippen's  pro- 
pensity for  kissing' '  that  Miss  Sarah  Eve 
wrote  so  naively  in  her  diary, — because,  for- 

36 


Mrs.  Thomas  Shore,  of  Virginia 
(Jane  Grey  Wall) 
Page  36 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


sooth,  it  decomposes  the  economy  of  one's 
handkerchief,  it  disorders  one's  high  roll,  and 
it  ruffles  the  serenity  of  one's  countenance." 

Of  lovely  Sarah  Eve,  who  was  the  fiancee 
of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  only  pen  pictures  are 
preserved.  She  died  in  1774  in  the  flower  of 
her  youth  and  beauty.  To  prove  that  she 
could  be  grave  as  well  as  gay,  one  who 
knew  her  well  said  of  her,  when  her  com- 
panions argued  from  the  stateliness  of  her 
appearance  and  the  fashionable  style  in  which 
her  hair  was  always  dressed  that  she  was 
proud,  that  ''there  was  more  humility  under 
Sarah  Eve's  high  head-dress  than  under  many 
a  Quaker  bonnet," 


37 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  II.  TWO  PIONEERS  IN 
AMERICAN  ART 

A  LTHOUGH  Smibert  and  Blackburn  were 

/\  painting  in  Boston  as  early  as  1725, 
X  Jl  Robert  Feke  in  Rhode  Island  in  1746, 
John  Watson  in  Philadelphia  before  1728,  and 
the  Hesseliuses  in  several  of  the  Colonies 
before  1763,  it  was  reserved  for  two  young 
men,  born  within  a  year  of  one  another, 
Benjamin  West  and  John  Singleton  Copley, 
to  gain  a  distinct  recognition  for  American  art, 
not  only  in  their  own  country,  but  among  art 
patrons  of  the  Old  World. 

Benjamin  West,  the  youngest  of  a  family  of 
ten  children,  was  born  on  the  loth  of  October, 
1738,  of  Quaker  parents,  the  ancestors  of  his 
father,  John  West,  having  come  to  Pennsyl- 
vania with  William  Penn  at  the  time  of  his 
second  visit  to  the  Province. 

The  small  stone  house  in  which  Benjamin 
West  first  saw  the  light  is  still  standing.  It 
is  in  Springfield  Township,  about  five  miles 
north  of  Chester  and  near  Swarthmore  Col- 
lege. The  painter  was  born  in  the  lower  room 
at  the  southwest  corner,  and  is  said  to  have 
made  his  early  experiments  in  portraiture  in 
the  garret  above  that  room. 

Whether  or  not  there  is  any  truth  in  the 
quaint  story  of  young  West  having  pulled  the 
hairs  out  of  the  cat's  tail  to  make  a  brush  with 

38 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


which  to  paint  the  face  of  his  sleeping  niece, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  materials  which  he 
used  were  of  the  crudest,  and  that  nothing  but 
a  strong  inborn  love  of  art  and  indomitable 
perseverance  carried  the  future  President  of 
the  British  Royal  Academy  through  the  strug- 
gles of  his  early  years. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Springfield,  in  which  the  Quaker  lad 
spent  his  childhood,  and  with  the  simplicity  of 
rural  life  in  Pennsylvania,  can  readily  credit  the 
tales  that  have  come  down  to  this  generation 
of  the  persistent  efforts  and  ingenious  devices 
through  which  he  strove  to  give  form  to  his 
ideas.  We  can  imagine  him  escaping  from 
the  task  of  ploughing,  to  which  his  father  had 
set  him,  and  in  a  fence-corner  executing  rude 
portraits  of  a  neighboring  family  with  an  im- 
provised brush  and  with  the  juice  of  the  poke- 
berry  for  coloring.  Many  of  the  stories  told  by 
Gait  of  Benjamin  West's  youth  are  improb- 
able, some  of  them  impossible,  while  others 
carry  conviction  with  them.  There  is  no 
reason  to  doubt  that  Mrs.  West's  indigo  pot 
supplied  the  young  artist  with  blue,  and  that 
friendly  Indians  who  visited  the  settlements 
shared  with  him  the  red  and  yellow  earth  used 
by  them  for  the  decoration  of  their  persons. 

One  of  Benjamin  West's  biographers  says 
that  he  made  his  colors  of  charcoal  and  chalk 
mixed  with  the  juice  of  berries,  these  colors 
being  laid  on  with  the  hair  of  a  cat  drawn 
through  a  goose  quill,  and  that    when  about 

39 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


nine  years  of  age  he  drew  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
the  portraits  of  a  neighboring  family,  in  which 
the  delineation  of  each  individual  was  suffi- 
cientlj^  accurate  to  be  immediately  recognized 
by  his  father  when  the  picture  was  first  shown 
to  him.  When  about  twelve  years  old,  he 
drew  a  portrait  of  himself,  with  his  hair  hang- 
ing loosely  about  his  shoulders.*'  One  of  the 
first  portraits  in  oil  that  the  boy  saw  was 
one  of  Mr.  Samuel  Shoemaker,  executed  by 
William  Williams,  an  English  painter  then 
working  in  Philadelphia.  The  older  artist 
became  interested  in  the  boy's  ambition  to  be 
a  painter  and  loaned  him  the  works  of  Fresnay 
and  Richardson.  Mr.  Penington,  a  Quaker 
merchant,  who  visited  the  home  of  the  Wests, 
gave  Benjamin  a  box  of  paints  and  brushes, 
several  pieces  of  canvas,  and  six  engravings  by 
Grevling.  Thus  equipped,  he  started  upon  his 
career.  West's  earliest  patron  was  Mr.  Wayne, 
the  father  of  General  Anthony  Wayne,  who 
fancied  a  half  dozen  heads  in  chalk  drawn  by 
him  and  gave  him  six  dollars  for  them.  In  re- 
lating this  experience  in  after  years,  when  he 
was  living  the  life  of  a  successful  artist  in 
London,  West  said  that  he  was  so  much 
pleased  with  the  large  price  brought  by  these 
early  efforts  that  he  then  and  there  decided  to 
adopt  art  as  a  profession.  Among  West's 
early  American  portraits  are  those  of  Judge 
and  Mrs.  William  Henry,  of  Lancaster;  of 
Mr.  Peter  Bard  and  Mrs.  Dinah  Bard,  of  New 
Jersey,  and  of  Miss  Jenny  Galloway,  who 

40 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


afterwards  married  Joseph  Shippen,  of  Phila- 
delphia. 

If  Byron  wrote,  with  fine  scorn, 

"  The  dotard  West, 
Europe's  worst  daub,  poor  England's  best," 

there  was  at  least  one  poet  in  his  own  country 
who  sang  his  praises  in  no  stinted  measure. 
In  the  American  Magazine,  February,  1758,  are 
some  verses  upon  the  portrait  of  a  young 
lady  by  Benjamin  West,  which  the  editor 
introduces  **with  particular  pleasure,  when 
we  consider  that  the  lady  who  sat,  the  painter 
who  guided  the  pencil,  and  the  poet  who  so 
well  described  the  whole  are  all  natives  of 
this  place  and  very  young."*  Unfortunately, 
the  name  of  the  fair  lady  is  not  given,  but 
the  writer  of  the  verses,  who  signs  himself 
Lovelace,''  is  undoubtedly  Francis  Hopkin- 
son,  who  in  his  riper  years  was  known  as  one 
of  the  most  charming  writers  of  his  time. 

"  The  easy  attitude,  the  graceful  dress, 

The  soft  expression  of  the  perfect  whole, 
Both  Guidons  judgment  and  his  skill  confess, 
Informing  canvas  with  a  living  soul," 

wrote  Mr.  Francis  Hopkinson,  although  most 
observers  find  the  **  living  soul'*  as  well  as  the 
**  easy  grace"  lacking  in  West's  early  work. 

*  The  **  place"  referred  to  is  Philadelphia,  where  this 
earliest  of  American  magazines  was  published  under  the 
title  of  American  Magazine  and  Monthly  Chronicle  for  the 
British  Colonies, 

41 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


A  painting  of  the  young  poet's  mother,  Mrs. 
Thomas  Hopkinson,  is  one  of  the  best  exam- 
ples of  West's  American  portraiture.  Minia- 
tures of  Judge  Hopkinson  and  his  wife  were 
also  executed  about  the  time  that  West  was 
painting  in  Pennsylvania.  Liike  most  of  the 
American  portraits  of  the  period,  they  are  un- 
signed, but  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  their 
being  by  Benjamin  West  is,  that  the  treatment 
of  the  head  in  the  miniature  of  Mrs.  Thomas 
Hopkinson  is  similar  to  that  in  a  well-authenti- 
cated portrait  of  her  by  West.  Some  minia- 
tures of  LfOrd  and  Lady  Stirling  have  been 
attributed  to  Benjamin  West  which  are  suffi- 
ciently stiff  and  wooden  to  have  been  the  early 
work  of  an  untrained  hand.  If  by  the  Penn- 
sylvania artist,  they  must  have  been  among 
his  very  earliest  attempts  at  portrait  painting. 

Dr.  Smith,  provost  of  the  college  at  Philadel- 
phia; Mr.  Kelly,  of  New  York;  Mr.  Edward 
Shippen  and  Mr.  William  Allen,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  Mr.  Izard,  of  South  Carolina, 
were  among  the  warm  friends  and  patrons  of 
Benjamin  West,  while  the  associates  of  his 
early  years  were  Francis  Hopkinson,  Thomas 
Godfrey,  Jacob  Duche,  and  William  White, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Pennsylvania.  Charles 
Willson  Peale  in  his  diary  says  that  it  was 
Mr.  Allen  and  Mr.  Izard  who  invited  Benjamin 
West  to  accompany  them  upon  a  trip  to  Italy. 
This  invitation  opened  up  rare  opportunities 
to  the  young  artist,  who  not  only  enjoyed  the 
advantage  of  studying  the  great  works  of  the 

42 


Judge  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Hopkinson 
Page  42 


Mrs.  Henry  Pratt  (Rebecca  Claypocle) 
Page  69 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


past,  but,  in  consequence  of  his  letters  of  in- 
troduction to  Lord  Grantham  and  others,  met 
many  persons  of  distinction  in  art,  literature, 
and  social  life. 

Benjamin  West  had  begun  to  use  his  brush 
without  having  learned  to  draw,  and  the 
Italians  said  of  him,  He  came  from  we  know 
not  where,  and  he  paints  we  know  not  how/' 
He  afterwards  went  to  Leghorn  and  took 
some  lessons  in  color  from  Mengs,  one  of  the 
greatest  colorists  of  his  time.  Mr.  Allen  was 
always  a  warm  friend  of  the  young  artist,  and 
helped  him  with  money  more  than  once  when 
he  was  in  dire  straits.  Mr.  Peale  describes 
West  as  a  handsome  man  with  attractive  man- 
ners, a  great  favorite  with  ladies.  In  Italy  he 
met  Angelica  Kauffmann,  whose  beauty,  talent, 
and  the  story  of  her  romantic  love  affair  with 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  combined  to  render  her 
one  of  the  most  interesting  figures  of  her  time. 

West  studied  several  years  in  Italy.  One  of 
the  anecdotes  related  of  him  while  in  Rome, 
is  that  during  his  master's  absence  from  his 
studio  he  slyly  painted  a  fly  on  the  canvas 
upon  which  the  artist  was  engaged.  The 
master  came  in,  resumed  his  work,  and  made 
several  attempts  to  brush  away  the  fly.  At 
last  he  exclaimed,  **Ah!  it  is  that  American.'' 

Although  Benjamin  West  executed  some  por- 
traits in  Philadelphia  which  are  fairly  good,  in 
view  of  his  youth  and  the  limited  opportunities 
for  study  which  he  had  enjoyed,  his  great  suc- 
cess as  an  artist  came  to  him  in  London. 

43 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Some  of  the  tales  told  of  the  aspirations  and 
struggles  of  the  Quaker  lad  who  was  deter- 
mined to  be  a  great  painter  may  have  helped 
to  awaken  an  interest  in  West's  work  when 
he  first  established  himself  in  London,  and 
thus  contributed  to  his  speedy  success.  Its 
continuance  was  due  to  the  young  artist's 
industry,  ability,  and  fortunate  choice  of 
subjects.  England  at  that  time  possessed 
no  leading  historical  painter,''  says  Mr.  Cun- 
ningham. **  He  [Benjamin  West]  was  intro- 
duced to  Reynolds,  and  a  letter  from  Mengs 
made  him  acquainted  with  Wilson.  Inter- 
course with  artists  and  an  examination  of 
their  works  awakened  his  ambition.  He  con- 
sulted no  one,  but  took  chambers  in  Bed- 
ford Street,  Covent  Garden,  and  set  up  his 
easel.  When  his  determination  was  known, 
his  brethren  in  art  came  round  him  in  a 
body,  welcomed  him  with  much  cordiality, 
and  encouraged  him  to  continue  his  career 
as  an  historical  painter.  Reynolds  was  de- 
voted to  portraits ;  Hogarth  on  the  brink  of 
the  grave ;  Barry  engaged  in  controversies 
in  Rome;  Wilson  neglected;  Gainsborough's 
excellence  lay  in  landscape;*  and  the  prudent 

*  Allan  Cunningham  seems  to  have  overlooked  the  fact 
that  Thomas  Gainsborough  painted  even  more  portraits 
than  landscapes.  According  to  a  recent  estimate  of  his 
work,  of  the  several  hundred  paintings  executed  by  him 
more  than  one-half  were  portraits,  among  them  some  of 
the  most  beautiful  in  England,  notably  those  of  the  Count- 
ess of  Sussex,  Mrs.  Siddons,  and  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Graham. 

44 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


American  saw  that  he  had  a  fair  field  and  no 
opponents.*** 

One  of  the  first,  if  not  the  very  first,  of 
West*s  English  paintings  was  a  scene  from 
the  story  of  Pylades  and  Orestes,  which, 
says  one  of  the  artist's  biographers,  attracted 
so  much  attention  that  his  servant  was  em- 
ployed from  morning  until  night  opening  the 
door  to  visitors.  He  received  a  considerable 
sum  of  money  for  showing  the  picture,  while 
the  poor  artist  who  had  painted  it  had  to  con- 
tent himself  with  empty  praise.  This  picture 
was  followed  by  **  Angelica  and  Medoro,*' 

Hector  and  Andromache,'*  and  a  number 
of  paintings  from  mythological  scenes,  which 
were  succeeded  by  a  series  of  representations 
of  events  from  English  history.  These  latter 
were  painted  under  royal  patronage,  as  were 
the  large  sacred  paintings  by  which  Benjamin 
West  is  best  known  in  his  own  country,  the 
most  celebrated  of  which  is  Christ  Healing 
the  Sick.**  This  work,  executed  when  the 
artist  had  passed  his  sixtieth  year,  was  de- 
signed for  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital.  When 
exhibited  in  London,  it  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, and  was  purchased  by  the  British  Insti- 
tution for  three  thousand  guineas.  The  artist 
was  given  permission  to  paint  a  replica  for 
the  hospital.  The  suggestion  that  the  picture 
of    Christ  Healing  the  Sick'*  should  be  given 


*  Cunningham's  "  Lives  of  Painters,  Sculptors,  and 
Architects,"  vol.  ii.  page  28. 

45 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  is  said  to  have 
come  from  Mr.  Joseph  Wharton,  a  friend  of 
Mr.  West's,  who  was  much  in  his  company 
in  London. 

Mr.  Wharton  was  certainly  deeply  inter- 
ested in  this  project,  and  actively  corresponded 
with  the  artist  on  the  subject  of  the  removal 
of  the  painting.  A  short  time  before  his 
death  he  wrote  to  Mr.  West  of  the  prepara- 
tions that  were  being  made  for  the  reception 
of  the  picture  by  Mr.  Samuel  Coates,  Mr. 
Sully,  the  artist,  and  himself.  Mr.  Wharton 
did  not  live  to  see  the  painting  reach  its  des- 
tination. In  a  letter  written  to  his  daughter, 
Mrs.  Jonathan  Robeson,  soon  after  her  father's 
death,  dated  London,  No.  14  Newman  Street, 
Oxford  Street,  August  5,  1817,  Mr.  West  says, 
after  expressing  his  sympathy  with  Mrs.  Robe- 
son upon  the  death  of  her  father : 

By  the  same  conveyance  which  this  letter 
goes  to  you,  in  Philadelphia  by  the  ship  Elec- 
tra,  Capt.  Williams :  I  send  the  Picture  of 
our  Saviour  receiving  the  Sick  and  Blind  in 
the  Temple  to  Heal  them,  for  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital:  what  a  real  joy  would  this 
occurrence  have  afforded  your  venerable 
Father ;  it  being  a  work  in  one  of  the  branches 
of  the  Fine  Arts  in  which  he  took  so  lively  an 
interest ;  and  for  which  I  have  in  my  Paper  of 
Instructions  to  the  President  and  Managers  of 
the  Hospital  Registered  his  name— Nathaniel 
Falcknor's  with  my  own,  and  that  of  Mrs. 

46 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


West,  All  mutual  friends  and  Natives  of 
Pennsylvania.  These  Names  I  always  held 
in  mind  should  be  transmitted  to  subsequent 
ages  with  that  Picture,  for  the  lively  interest 
they  had  for  its  being  placed  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Hospital  

With  this  letter  I  inclose  a  Medal,  of  one 
in  copper  your  Father  did  me  the  honor  to 
accept — and  the  present  one  is  finished  in  a 
tasteful  stile  most  fit  for  a  Lady — and  which  I 
request  you  will  honour  me  by  giving  it  a 
place  in  your  possession  as  a  Token  of  that 
great  respect  for  the  Daughter  of  my  friend 
Joseph  Wharton,  which  this  Medal  will  stand 
as  a  lasting  Pledge  amongst  his  Relatives,  for 
my  sincerity. 

**  And  be  assured  My  dear  Madam,  that  I 
am  most  truely 

your  greatly  obliged 

Benjamin  West. 

*'Mrs.  Sarah  Robeson." 

The  story  of  the  Quaker  boy  who  had  begun 
life  in  a  farm-house  in  Pennsylvania  rising  to 
eminence  in  his  chosen  profession,  painting 
noble  and  royal  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  be- 
coming the  associate  of  the  great  and  learned 
men  of  Great  Britain  and  finally  President  of 
the  Royal  Academy,  reads  to-day  like  a  fairy 
tale.  According  to  all  the  canons  of  fairyland 
he  should  have  married  a  princess  clothed  in 
silver  gauze  with  gold  slippers  upon  her  feet. 
If,  as  we  know.  West  failed  to  do  this,  his 

47 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


courtship  was  not  lacking  in  romance,  as  the 
lady  of  his  love  ran  away  from  a  stern  guardian 
and  went  to  England  to  meet  and  marry  her 
true  lover  like  a  royal  bride. 

An  account  of  the  elopement  of  Benjamin 
West's  bride,  as  related  by  Bishop  White,* 
one  of  the  actors  in  the  little  drama,  has 
been  preserved  by  one  of  Miss  Shewell's 
American  relatives,  Mr.  Thomas  Shewell, 
of  Bristol,  Pennsylvania. 

Before  the  departure  of  Benjamin  West 
for  Italy,'*   Mr.  Thomas   F.   Shewell  says, 

some  love  passages  had  taken  place  between 
the  young  people,  for  the  merchant  brother, 
Stephen  Shewell,  who  was  a  very  proud  man, 
took  a  violent  prejudice  against  Mr.  West  on 
his  sister's  account,  calling  him  a  'pauper,' 
an  'object  of  charity,'  etc. 

'*  West  remained  two  years  in  Italy,  much 
to  his  advantage.  As  he  was  returning  home 
through  England  in  1763,  the  King  saw  some 
of  his  paintings,  which  he  much  admired. 


^  The  Reverend  William  White,  first  Bishop  of  the 
American  Episcopal  Church,  consecrated  in  Lambeth 
Palace,  England,  February  4,  1787. 

Born  in  1747,  young  White  was  a  lad  of  seventeen  when 
he  assisted  at  the  elopement  of  Miss  Shewell.  A  miniature 
portrait  painted  by  Charles  Willson  Peale  represents  the 
future  dignitary  of  the  Church  in  powdered  wig,  a  gay  blue 
coat  with  a  scarlet  collar,  and  pale  blue  waistcoat.  This 
miniature  is  said  to  have  been  painted  before  William  White 
went  to  England  in  1772  to  be  ordained.  If  this  is  the  case, 
it  is  one  of  Charles  Willson  Peale's  earliest  miniatures. 

48 


The  Right  Reverend  WilHam  White 
By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Page  48 


Admiral,  Lord  Rodney 
By  John  Singleton  Copley 
Page  56 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  appointed  him  his  painter  and  was  his 
warm  friend  through  life.  Leigh  Hunt,  whose 
mother  was  a  niece  of  Mrs.  West,  says  that 
it  was  *  well  known  that  this  artist  enjoyed 
the  confidence  of  his  Majesty  in  no  ordinary 
degree,'  and  describes  their  having  had 
much  pleasant  conversation  during  the  King's 
prolonged  sittings.* 

Mr.  West,  not  being  able  to  leave  England 
after  his  appointment,  wrote  to  Miss  Shewell 
that  his  father  was  coming  to  visit  him  in 
London,  and  would  sail  by  a  certain  brig ;  that 
if  she  would  accompany  him  with  her  maid, 
they  would  be  married  on  arrival,  as  they  had 
been  secretly  engaged  ever  since  his  departure 
for  Italy.  Her  brother  got  hold  of  this  letter 
and  locked  her  up  in  his  room  until  the  vessel 
should  depart. 

*'As  soon  as  this  state  of  things  became 
known  to  those  friends  of  West  who  had 
advised  him  to  go  to  Italy,  they  determined,  in 

*  Mary  Shewell,  daughter  of  Stephen  Shewell,  of  Phila- 
delphia, met  Isaac  Hunt  while  he  was  studying  at  the 
College  of  Philadelphia,  married  him,  and  went  to  England 
to  live.  Leigh  Hunt  says  that  his  parents  resided  some 
time  under  the  hospitable  roof  of  the  Wests.  He  says 
that  his  mother  and  his  great-aunt,  Mrs.  Benjamin  West, 
were  about  the  same  age  and  very  congenial,  both  being 
devoted  to  books.  The  poet  describes  his  mother,  whom 
he  adored,  as  a  brunette  with  fine  eyes,  a  tall,  lady-like 
person,  with  hair  blacker  than  is  seen  in  English  growth. 
It  was  supposed  that  Anglo-Americans  had  already  begun 
to  exhibit  the  influence  of  climate  in  their  appearance. — 
**  Autobiography  of  Leigh  Hunt,"  vol.  i.  p.  29. 
4  49 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  Bishop's  words,  *  that  Ben  should  have 
his  wife  •/  sending  to  Miss  Shewell  by  her 
maid,  concealed  under  her  dress,  a  rope  lad- 
der, with  a  note  saying  that  they  would 
cause  the  vessel  to  drop  down  to  Chester, 
sixteen  miles,  to  obviate  suspicion,  and  that 
on  a  given  evening  they  would  have  a  car- 
riage round  the  corner  at  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  and  if  she  could  use  the  ladder  to 
reach  the  ground  they  would  safely  convey 
her  to  Chester  and  put  her  on  board  the 
vessel.  She  got  to  the  ground  safely,  and 
with  her  maid  got  into  the  carriage  with 
two  of  the  gentlemen,  the  other  outside  with 
the  driver.  The  party  did  not  reach  the 
vessel  until  daylight  (the  roads  were  so  bad). 
She  safely  arrived  in  London  and  was  mar- 
ried." 

Mr.  Shewell  says  that  Bishop  White  re- 
lated this  story  during  one  of  his  last  dioce- 
san visitations,  about  1833,  at  the  house 
of  Dr.  Joseph  Swift,  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Ben- 
jamin West.  During  the  whole  course  of 
the  story  the  venerable  Bishop  spoke  with 
great  animation,  and  seemed  to  relish  the 
adventure,  saying,  Ben  deserved  a  good 
wife,  and,  old  as  I  am,  I  am  ready  to  do  it 
again  for  two  such  worthy  people.'*  The 
other  friends  of  West  who  assisted  to  smooth 
the  rugged  course  of  true  love  were  Benja- 
min Franklin,  then  fifty-six  years  old,  and 
Francis  Hopkinson,  who  was  about  twenty- 
one. 

50 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Mrs.  Clement  and  other  authorities  speak 
of  Matthew  Pratt  as  having  accompanied 
Miss  Shewell  upon  her  voyage  to  England. 
Bishop  White  does  not  mention  Pratt  as 
one  of  her  escort,  nor  does  the  family  nar- 
rator, Mr.  Thomas  F.  Shewell.  There  is, 
however,  no  reason  to  doubt  the  statement 
that  Matthew  Pratt  accompanied  the  bride- 
elect  and  that  he  gave  her  away  at  the 
wedding,  which  took  place  September  2,  1764, 
at  St.  Martin's-in-the-Strand,  as  the  Pratts 
were  family  connections  of  Miss  Shewell,  and 
we  know  that  Matthew  went  to  England  in 
1764. 

While  Benjamin  West  was  dreaming  dreams 
and  painting  pictures  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
making  a  name  for  himself  abroad,  a  still  more 
remarkable  artistic  development  was  taking 
place  in  Boston.  In  the  bare  studios  of  Smi- 
bert,  Blackburn,  and  Pelham,  a  boy  destined 
to  be  far  more  distinguished  than  his  teachers 
was  making  his  first  essay  at  limning  **the 
human  face  divine."  That  Peter  Pelham,  an 
Englishman,  who  combined  the  vocations  of 
painter,  mezzotint  engraver,  and  school  teacher, 
made  some  impression  upon  the  artistic  facul- 
ties of  his  stepson,  John  Singleton  Copley,  is 
proved  by  the  fact,  that  the  latter  at  six- 
teen engraved  a  portrait  of  the  Rev.  William 
Welsteed,  of  Boston,  which  Mr.  Whitmore 
says  **  bears  so  plainly  the  mark  of  Pelham's 
style  that  we  may  be  sure  that  it  was  to  his 
stepfather  that  Copley  owed  much  valuable 

51 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


rudimentary  instruction/'*  in  which  opinion 
the  artist's  biographer,  Mr.  Augustus  Thorn- 
dyke  Perkins,  agrees.  Young  Copley  did  not 
stop  long  at  engraving,  as  a  portrait  in  oils 
of  Dr.  De  Mountfort  when  a  child,  bearing 
the  same  date  as  the  early  engraving,  is  still 
extant. 

Mr.  Perkins  thinks  that  Copley  owed  much 
of  the  excellence  of  his  earlier  work  to  the  in- 
fluence of  Blackburn,  especially  in  his  drapery 
and  detail  in  dress.  He  says  that  Blackburn's 
drapery  is  as  good  as  Copley's,  especially  his 
white  satins,  and  that  both  artists  were  in  the 
habit  of  using  as  the  lining  of  a  dress,  or  as  a 
drapery,  a  certain  shade  of  mauve  pink,  which 
the  older  artist  used  feebly,  while  Copley 
dashed  it  in  with  the  hand  of  a  master.  Mr. 
Perkins  refers  to  the  fine  pictures  of  Joseph 
Allen  and  his  wife  and  to  those  of  the  Cun- 
ningham family  as  excellent  examples  of  the 
work  of  Blackburn. 

From  these  and  other  portraits,  known  to 
have  been  in  Boston  prior  to  1772,  it  is  evident 
that  Copley  had  the  advantage  of  studying 
more  paintings  than  Benjamin  West,  as  well 
as  of  better  early  instruction.  That  he  profited 
by  the  advantages  afforded  him,  a  number  of 
portraits  painted  before  he  left  Boston  fully 


^  Mr.  Charles  H.  Hart  says  that  this  engraving,  made  in 
i753»  signed  "J.  S,  Qo^X^y ,  pinxit  et  fecit,''  was  printed  for 
and  sold  by  Stephen  Whiting,  at  Ye  Rose  and  Acorn,  in 
Union  Street,  Boston. 

52 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


attest.  Whatever  may  be  said  in  disparage- 
ment of  Copley's  style, — and  his  warmest  ad- 
mirers are  willing  to  admit  that,  with  a  certain 
charm  of  individuality  that  his  portraits  possess, 
many  of  them  lack  warmth,  feeling,  grace,  and 
sentiment, — there  are,  even  among  his  earlier 
portraits,  a  number  which  do  not  exhibit  these 
shortcomings  in  any  marked  degree.  Among 
the  best  examples  of  the  artist's  American 
work  are  the  portraits  of  Lady  Wentworth, 
Mrs.  Samuel  AUyne  Otis,  and  Mrs.  Edward  Per- 
kins, of  Boston,  the  two  former  representing 
the  beauty  of  youth,  the  latter  the  thoughtful 
charm  of  old  age.  In  his  treatment  of  mate- 
rials and  his  arrangement  of  draperies,  Copley 
was  especially  happy.  His  women,  veritable 
grandes  dames  whether  living  in  England  or  in 
America,  are  habited  in  genuine  satins,  bro- 
cades, and  laces,  which  they  wear  with  a 
dignity  that  becomes  their  high  estate. 

In  1754  an  ambitious  attempt  at  allegorical 
painting  engaged  the  brush  of  Copley,  which 
foreshadowed  his  later  essays  at  allegorical 
and  historical  painting  in  England,  such  as  the 
large  canvases  representing  **The  Red  Cross 
Knight,''  Holiness,  Faith,  and  Hope,"  which 
virtues  are  represented  by  the  artist's  children 
in  their  early  youth,  Charles  I.  signing  the 
Death-Warrant  of  Strafford,"  **The  Siege  of 
Gibraltar,"  ''The  Death  of  Lord  Chatham," 
and  ''The  Three  Princesses."  Several  of 
Copley's  large  canvases  are  at  the  Art  Mu- 
seum in  Boston :  the  celebrated  picture  of  "  A 

53 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Youth  Rescued  from  a  Shark;'**  Speaker 
Lenthall  delivering  himself  of  his  celebrated 
period  when  refusing  to  comply  with  the  de- 
mand of  King  Charles,  *  I  have,  Sire,  neither 
eyes  to  see  nor  tongue  to  speak  in  this  place 
but  as  the  House  is  pleased  to  direct  me 
whose  servant  I  am  here,' etc.  This  picture, 
which  is  considered  an  excellent  example  of 
the  artist's  work  in  composition,  characteri- 
zation, and  conception,  is  the  one  that  drew 
from  staunch  Queen  Charlotte  the  severe  criti- 
cism. You  have  chosen,  Mr.  Copley,  a  most 
unfortunate  subject  for  the  exercise  of  your 
pencil." 

**It  is,"  says  one  of  Copley's  biographers, 
"rather  an  interesting  coincidence  that  Mr. 
Copley  should  have  painted  this  Puritan  pict- 
ure in  1791,  when  Puritanism  was  not  popular 
in  England,  and  that  it  should  have  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  gallery  of  a  Tory  Chancellor  to 
decorate  the  free  library  of  a  city  founded  by 
the  Puritans  who  that  day  met  and  foiled  their 
King."  This  picture  was  some  years  since 
presented  to  the  Boston  Public  Library,  while 


*  The  youth  in  the  painting  is  Brook  Watson,  afterwards 
Lord  Mayor  of  London.  He  crossed  the  Atlantic  with  Mr. 
Copley  in  1774.  Mr.  Watson,  then  a  man  in  the  prime  of 
life,  related  to  the  artist  the  remarkable  circumstance  of  his 
rescue  from  the  jaws  of  a  shark  when  a  boy  of  fourteen. 
The  graphic  recital  made  so  strong  an  impression  upon 
Copley's  mind  that  he  painted  the  celebrated  picture  of  "  A 
Youth  Rescued  from  a  Shark"  from  his  recollection  of  Mr. 
Watson's  description  of  the  scene. 

54 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


another  canvas  now  in  Boston  is  the  charming 
Family  Picture/' 

Although  Copley's  best  work,  and  that  to 
which  he  now  owes  his  high  position  in  the 
history  and  development  of  American  art, 
is  in  the  line  of  portrait  painting,  he  early 
and  late  executed  some  miniatures.  An  in- 
teresting miniature,  painted  about  1770,  is 
that  of  James  Bowdoin,  afterwards  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  who  distinguished  himself 
by  the  ability  and  courage  which  he  showed 
in  suppressing  Shays's  Rebellion.  Governor 
Bowdoin's  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  married 
Sir  John  Temple,  Bart.,  was  one  of  the  beau- 
ties of  the  first  administration.  Her  noble  and 
attractive  face  has  come  down  to  this  genera- 
tion in  a  crayon  portrait  by  Copley.  He  also 
painted  miniatures  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel 
Cary  and  of  his  half-brother,  Henry  Pelham, 
who  is  the  boy  in  the  celebrated  picture  of 
**The  Boy  and  the  Flying  Squirrel,'*  which 
first  brought  the  artist  into  notice.*  Another 


"  Henry  Pelham*s  name  appears  in  the  Catalogue  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  1778  as  an  exhibitor  of  the  following 
works  ;  *  The  Finding  of  Moses,'  <  A  Portrait  of  a  Lady/  in 
miniature,  *  A  Portrait  of  a  Gentleman,'  also  in  miniature ; 
again  the  next  year,  of  *  A  Frame  with  four  Miniatures,  two 
in  water-color,  two  in  enamel,' — all  beautifully  painted.  A 
particularly  interesting  character  in  his  youth,  handsome 
and  talented  to  a  rare  degree,  Pelham  subsequently  went 
to  Ireland  and  became  agent  for  Lord  Lansdowne's  estates 
in  that  country ;  there  he  married,  as  we  learn  by  Mr. 
Singleton's  letter,  a  Miss  Butler,  by  whom  he  had  twin 

55 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


example  of  Copley's  miniature  work  is  a  fine 
portrait  of  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  now  owned  by 
the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania.  He 
also  painted  a  miniature  of  George  Brydges, 
Lord  Rodney,*  a  distinguished  naval  com- 
mander in  the  English  service.  Rodney  served 
under  Admiral  Boscawen  at  the  taking  of 
Louisburg,  commanded  at  the  successful  bom- 
bardment of  Havre  and  at  the  reduction  of 
Martinique,  after  which  he  was,  in  1762,  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  vice-admiral,  and  created 
a  baronet  in  1764.  For  his  victory  gained  in 
1782  over  the  Comte  de  Grasse,  Rodney  was 


sons.  The  family  letters  give  some  later  information  about 
him.  He  abandoned  painting  to  his  more  persevering  and 
gifted  brother.  Of  one  of  his  sons  we  know  nothing,  but, 
according  to  Mrs.  Copley,  the  other  received  an  appoint- 
ment under  the  British  Crown  early  in  this  century  in  the 
West  Indies,  where  he  died  soon  after  his  arrival." — "John 
Singleton  Copley,  His  Domestic  and  Artistic  Life,"  by 
Martha  Babcock  Amory. 

*  The  Rodney  family  which  settled  in  Delaware  was  de- 
scended from  an  ancestor  of  Lord  Rodney.  William  Rod- 
ney, who  came  to  America  in  1682,  was  the  son  of  William 
Rodney,  who  married  Alice  Caesar,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas 
Caesar,  Baron  of  the  Exchequer.  Edward,  George,  and 
William  (who  married  Alice  Caesar)  were  brothers.  Ed- 
ward broke  the  entail  in  favor  of  his  daughters,  and  his 
family  is  now  represented  by  the  Duke  of  Buckingham. 
George  was  the  ancestor  of  Admiral  Rodney  and  of  the 
present  Lord  Rodney.  William's  son  William  came  to 
America  and  became  the  ancestor  of  the  Delaware  Rodneys, 
which  family  numbered  among  its  members  Caesar  Rod- 
ney, a  signer  of  the  Declaration,  member  of  the  Continental 
Congress,  and  President  of  his  native  State. 

56 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


raised  to  the  peerage  and  granted  a  pension  of 
two  thousand  pounds  per  annum. 

A  miniature  of  an  American  beauty,  which 
Copley  probably  painted  in  England,  is  that  of 
Miss  Eliza  Hunter,  of  Newport,  as  she  and 
her  sister  were  abroad  in  1784.  This  lady, 
who,  like  Miss  Peggy  Champlin,  was  a  great 
belle  among  the  French  officers  in  Newport, 
never  married.  Her  sisters,  Katharine  and 
Ann,  married  abroad.  Ann  married  John  Fal- 
connet,  a  Swiss  banker,  and  Katharine,  whose 
lovely  miniature  is  still  preserved  in  the  family, 
became  the  wife  of  the  Count  de  Carignan. 

Copley,  like  Benjamin  West,  was  most  fortu- 
nate in  his  marriage.  His  wife  was  Susannah 
Farnum,  daughter  of  Richard  Clarke,  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  Boston.  Mrs.  Copley  was  de- 
scended through  her  mother,  Elizabeth  Wins- 
low,  from  Mary  Chilton,  the  first  woman  who 
stepped  from  the  Mayflower  upon  the  New 
England  shore.  Mrs.  Amory,  a  granddaughter 
of  this  couple,  says  that  Mrs.  Copley  pos- 
sessed much  personal  loveliness,  especially  the 
high  forehead  and  finely  arched  brow  so  dear 
to  the  artist.  Her  character  was  in  harmony 
with  her  person.  She  appears  to  have  been 
one  of  those  rare  women  in  whom  the  moral 
and  mental  qualities,  joined  to  deep  sensibility, 
are  so  nicely  balanced  that  they  exert  the  hap- 
piest influence  over  the  home  circle,  cheering 
and  enlivening  without  dazzling  it. 

**The  tie  between  the  artist  and  his  wife 
was  peculiarly  close.   We  constantly  meet  her 

57 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


familiar  lineaments  through  the  whole  course 
of  Copley's  works,— now  Mary  by  the  manger, 
with  the  divine  Infant  at  her  breast,  in  '  The 
Nativity;'  again  in  *  The  Family  Picture,'  his 
chef  d' (euvre  in  portraiture." 

A  charming  portrait  of  Mrs.  Copley  is  the 
one  to  be  found  in  this  latter  picture,  which, 
being  a  large  canvas,  exhibits  some  of  Cop- 
ley's best  composition,  and  possesses,  as  Mrs. 
Amory  says,  a  warmth  and  beauty  of  senti- 
ment, especially  in  the  mother  and  children, 
of  which  no  mere  description  can  give  any 
adequate  idea. 

Unlike  most  young  artists,  Copley,  in  conse- 
quence of  his  rapid  success,  and  perhaps 
through  the  generosity  of  his  father-in-law, 
was  able  to  indulge  his  taste  for  elegant  sur- 
roundings. John  Trumbull,  who  visited  the 
artist  in  his  home  in  1772,  wrote :  His  house 
was  on  the  Common,  where  Mr.  Sears's  elegant 
granite  palazzo  now  stands.  A  mutual  friend 
of  Mr.  Copley  and  my  brother,  Mr.  James 
Lovell,  went  with  us  to  introduce  us.  We 
found  Mr.  Copley  dressed  to  receive  a  party 
of  friends  at  dinner.  I  remember  his  dress  and 
appearance, — an  elegant-looking  man,  dressed 
in  a  fine  maroon  cloth  with  gilt  buttons — this 
was  dazzling  to  my  unpracticed  eye  ! — But  his 
paintings,  the  first  I  had  ever  seen  deserving 
the  name,  riveted,  absorbed,  my  attention, 
and  renewed  all  my  desire  to  enter  upon  such 
a  pursuit." 

Copley  may  have  derived  his  love  of  color, 
58 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


rich  textures,  and  handsome  appointments 
from  some  English  ancestor,  or  perhaps  he 
owed  these  tastes  to  some  French  strain  in  his 
blood.  There  was  little  in  the  New  England 
life  of  that  day  to  encourage  a  love  of  beauty  or 
grace,  yet  this  hard-working,  painstaking  artist, 
in  this  uncongenial  atmosphere,  developed  a 
side  of  his  nature  that  turned  to  the  beauti- 
ful as  flowers  turn  towards  the  sun.  The  re- 
straints and  limitations  of  the  life  around  him 
must  have  pressed  hard  against  the  exuberance 
of  his  artistic  nature ;  and  in  old  age,  when  re- 
calling the  scenes  of  his  youth,  Copley  would 
ask  Americans  whom  he  met  whether  *'more 
liberty  of  conscience  than  of  limb  was  still 
permitted  in  New  England,'*  relating  to  his 
amused  auditors  his  own  experience  of  being 
taken  in  custody  by  one  of  the  selectmen'*  of 
Boston  for  breaking  the  Sabbath  to  the  extent 
of  taking  a  stroll  into  the  country  on  a  fine 
Sunday  morning  in  the  spring.  Of  her  grand- 
father's inborn  love  of  beauty  in  dress  and  sur- 
roundings Mrs.  Amory  writes : 

*'It  seemed  as  if  the  eye  of  the  master  de- 
lighted to  dwell  on  the  rich  draperies  and  soft 
laces  he  so  well  knew  how  to  bring  out  on  his 
canvas,  and  which  he  thoroughly  studied  in 
all  their  combinations  and  arrangements.  The 
beautiful  costumes  which  we  admire  to-day  in 
some  of  the  stately  portraits  of  our  grand- 
mothers' times  were  the  result  of  his  com- 
bined taste  and  study.  He  had  theories  and 
principles  about  female  attire  that  were  carried 

59 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


out  with  a  scrupulous  elaboration  whose  effect 
heightened  the  charm  of  the  picture.  The 
rose,  the  jewel  in  the  hair,  the  string  of  pearls 
around  the  throat,  were  no  accidental  arrange- 
ments, but  according  to  principles  of  taste, 
which  he  thoroughly  understood.  The  hair, 
ornamented  in  harmony  with  the  full  dress  of 
the  period;  the  fall  of  lace,  shading  the  round- 
ness and  curve  of  the  arm,  were  perhaps  un- 
important details  in  themselves,  but  conducing 
by  their  nice  adjustment  to  the  harmonious 
effect  of  the  composition.  Added  to  these,  he 
delighted  to  place  his  subject  among  kindred 
scenes ;  sometimes  we  catch  a  glimpse  in  the 
distance  of  garden  or  mansion,  or  at  others  of 
the  fountain  and  the  grove,  the  squirrel, — that 
favorite  of  his  brush, — the  bird,  and  the  spaniel, 
— all  treated  with  equal  grace  and  felicity.  His 
male  portraits  have  a  severer  dignity  and 
gravity,  as  beseemed  the  sex.  Happily  for  his 
taste,  rich  and  brilliant  velvets,  satins  and 
embroidery,  point-lace  cuffs  and  frills,  had  not 
in  his  day  been  forced  to  yield  to  broadcloth 
and  beaver.  The  art  of  the  coiffeur  and  the 
dignity  of  powder  and  wig — even  rouge,  it  is 
whispered — left  their  trace  on  some  of  the 
statelier  forms  of  the  Colonial  Court.  At  that 
epoch  the  love  of  dress  was  not  accounted 
a  weakness  and  confined  to  the  female  sex ; 
we  have  only  to  consult  the  pages  of  the 
gossiping  Boswell  to  learn,  among  other  in- 
stances, the  emotions  of  pride  and  pleasure 
with  which  the  heart  of  the  genial  Goldsmith 

60 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


swelled  beneath  the  folds  of  his  peach-bloom 
velvets.'* 

In  writing  to  his  wife  from  Genoa  in  1774, 
Mr.  Copley  reveals  not  only  the  taste  for  rich 
materials  of  which  Mrs.  Amory  speaks,  but 
also  an  exceedingly  practical  turn  of  mind 
and  an  almost  feminine  delight  in  securing  a 
bargain  in  foreign  silks  and  velvets. 

I  judged  it  best/'  he  says,  to  take  advan- 
tage of  so  good  an  opportunity,  and  purchased 
a  suit  of  clothes  for  the  winter  which  I  can 
send  to  Rome  conveniently  from  here.  Per- 
haps it  may  amuse  you  should  I  inform  you 
what  I  have  bought.  I  will  tell  you,  then. 
I  have  as  much  black  velvet  as  will  make  a 
suit  of  clothes.  For  this  I  gave  about  five 
guineas,  and  about  two  more  for  as  much 
crimson  satin  as  will  line  it.  This  is  the  taste 
throughout  Tuscany;  and  to-day  I  bought 
some  lace  ruffles  and  silk  stockings. 

I  cannot  but  wonder  how  cheap  silks  are 
in  this  city ;  the  velvet  and  satin,  for  which  I 
gave  seven  guineas,  would  have  cost  fourteen 
in  London.  .  .  .  You  see  how  I  spend  my 
money,  but  it  is  necessary  to  attend  to  dress 
and  not  unpleasing  when  business  does  not 
interfere.  I  hope  ere  long  to  see  some  returns 
for  the  money  I  now  spend. 

**I  believe  you  will  think  I  have  become  a 
*beau'  to  dress  in  so  rich  a  suit  of  clothes, 
and  truly  I  am  a  little  tinctured;  but  you 
must  remember  that  you  thought  I  was  too 
careless  about  my  dress.    I  wish  to  reform 

6z 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


from  all  my  errors,  and  particularly  from  those 
that  are  the  most  painful  to  you.  I  have  your 
happiness  so  much  at  heart,  I  would  do  any- 
thing to  give  you  pleasure/' 

Mrs.  Copley  did  not  accompany  her  husband 
when  he  went  abroad  to  study  in  1774,  but  set 
sail  the  following  year  with  her  little  family. 
Her  father,  Mr.  Richard  Clarke,  whose  tea,*' 
as  Mr.  Perkins  remarks,  had  so  recently  been 
mixed  with  the  water  of  Boston  harbor,*'  was 
one  of  the  party. 

Although  John  Singleton  Copley  was  the 
senior  of  Benjamin  West  by  one  year,  the 
younger  artist  was,  in  consequence  of  his 
rapid  success  and  influential  circle  of  friends, 
in  a  position  to  help  his  compatriot  when  he 
reached  London.  This  aid  West  promptly 
bestowed,  a  royal  generosity  of  nature  being  a 
distinguishing  trait  of  the  Quaker  painter.  No 
brother  artist — no  American,  indeed — failed  to 
meet  with  a  warm  welcome  from  the  Wests. 
Francis  Hopkinson,  in  his  letters  to  his  family 
written  from  London,  gives  charming  pictures 
of  the  artist's  home,  presided  over  by  lovely, 
gracious  Mrs.  West,  who  was  always  Ameri- 
can at  heart,  although  she  was  destined  never 
again  to  behold  her  native  land.  Gilbert 
Stuart,  in  speaking  to  Mr.  Charles  Eraser,  of 
Charleston,  of  the  manner  in  which  he  had 
been  received  by  West,  said  that  he  was 
welcomed  with  true  benevolence,  encouraged, 
and  taken  into  the  family  of  his  master,  and 
that  nothing  could  exceed  the  attentions  of 

62 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  artist  to  him;      they  were/'   he  said, 
paternal/' 

One  of  the  most  interesting  descriptions  of 
the  Wests  in  England  is  to  be  found  in  the 
diary  of  Mr.  Samuel  Shoemaker,  a  prominent 
Philadelphia  loyalist.  Mr.  Shoemaker's  notes 
were  made  for  the  entertainment  of  his  wife, 
who  remained  in  America,  and  their  personal 
and  naive  character  add  to  their  interest.  Mr. 
Shoemaker  had,  upon  the  evacuation  of  Phila- 
delphia by  the  British,  accompanied  the  army 
to  New  York,  whence  he  sailed  for  England 
in  1783.  Under  the  circumstances,  it  is  not 
remarkable  that  the  American  gentleman  was 
received  by  George  III.  with  what  he  con- 
sidered great  distinction.  Of  this  interview 
with  the  King,  Mr.  Shoemaker  writes : 

**This  morning  at  eight  o'clock  my  son  ac- 
companied B.  West's  wife  to  the  King's  Chap- 
pel,  where  he  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  King  and  several  of  the  Princesses.  They 
returned  before  nine,  when  we  were  enter- 
tained with  breakfast,  at  which  we  had  the 
Company  of  Mr.  Poggy,*  the  Italian  Gentle- 
man,   Mr.   Trumble,f   Mr.   Farrington,  and 


*  Antonio  di  Poggi,  an  Italian  artist.  Mr.  Trumbull  met 
Di  Poggi  in  London  in  1785  and  speaks  of  him  as  an  artist 
and  draughtsman  of  superior  talents,  who  had  recently 
commenced  the  business  of  publishing.  He  afterwards 
engraved  a  number  of  Trumbull's  paintings. 

t  This  is  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  the  artist,  who  was 
studying  with  Benjamin  West,  as  was  Mr.  Farrington,  a 
distinguished  landscape  painter. 

63 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


West's  two  sons.  About  ten  my  son  ac- 
companied Farrington,  Trumble,  and  West's 
eldest  son  in  a  Ride  through  Windsor  Forrest, 
having  first  been  with  West  and  I  to  his  Room 
in  the  Castle  to  see  a  picture  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  which  he  had  just  finished  for  the 
King's  Chappel.  After  part  of  our  Company 
were  gone  to  take  their  ride,  West  informed 
me  that  the  King  had  ordered  him  to  attend  at 
his  Painting  Room  in  the  Castle  at  one  o'clock, 
when  the  King  and  Queen  and  some  of  the 
Princesses,  on  their  return  from  Chappel,  in- 
tended to  call  to  see  the  Painting  of  the  Lord's 
Supper  which  he  had  just  finished,  and  West 
told  me  it  would  be  a  very  proper  time  and 
Opportunity  for  me  to  see  the  King,  Queen, 
and  the  rest  of  the  family,  as  they  came  from 
the  Chappel,  and  therefore  requested  me  to 
accompany  him  and  his  wife  and  the  Italian 
Gentleman,  and  walk  at  the  Castle  near  the 
Chappel  till  service  was  over,  when  he  must 
repair  to  his  room  to  attend  the  King,  and 
would  leave  me  with  his  wife  in  a  proper 
station  to  have  a  full  view  of  the  King  and 
family.  .  .  . 

Accordingly,  a  little  before  one  o'clock. 
West  and  his  wife,  the  Italian  Gentleman,  and 
I  walked  up  to  the  Castle  and  there  continued 
walking  about  till  the  clock  struck  One,  when 
we  observed  one  of  the  Pages  coming  from 
the  Chappel.  West  then  said  he  must  leave 
us ;  presently  after  this  two  coaches  passed 
and  went  round  towards  the  door  of  the 

64 


HEIRLOOMS    IfJ  MINIATURES 


Castle  leading  to  West's  room.  In  these  two 
coaches  were  the  Queen  and  Princesses  ;  pres- 
ently after  the  King  appeared,  attended  by  his 
Equery  only,  and  walked  in  great  haste,  almost 
ran,  to  meet  the  coaches  at  the  door  of  the 
Castle  above  mentioned,  which  he  reached 
just  as  the  coaches  got  there,  as  did  West's 
wife,  the  Italian  Gentleman,  and  I,  when  we 
saw  the  King  go  to  the  door  of  the  Coach  in 
which  the  Queen  was,  and  heard  him  say,  *  I 
have  got  here  in  time,'  and  then  handed  the 
Queen  out  and  up  the  steps,  into  the  Castle — 
the  Princess  Royal,  Princess  Elizabeth,  Prin- 
cess Mary,  and  Princess  Sophia,  with  Colonel 
Goldsworthy,  the  King's  Equery,  the  Hano- 
verian Resident,  and  Miss  Goldsworthy,  sub 
Governess  to  the  two  young  Princesses,  fol- 
lowed. They  all  went  into  the  Castle,  when  I 
heard  the  King  say,  'tell  him  to  come  in,'  but 
little  did  I  think  I  was  the  Person  meant,  and 
West's  wife,  the  Italian  Gentleman,  and  I  were 
about  going  off,  when  West  came  out  of  the 
Castle  and  told  me  the  King  had  ordered  him 
to  come  out  and  bring  me  and  Mrs.  West  in. 
.  .  .  Flattered  and  embarrassed  thou  may 
suppose,  on  my  entering  the  room,  the  King 
came  up  close  to  me,  and  very  graciously  said, 
'  Mr.  S.,  you  are  well  known  here,  everybody 
knows  you,'  etc.  (complimentary,  which  I  can't 
mention).  He  then  turned  to  the  Queen,  the 
Princesses,  etc.,  who  stood  close  by,  and  re- 
peated, *  Mr.  S.'  I  then  made  my  bow  to  the 
Queen,  then  to  the  Princess  Royal,  to  the 
5  65 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Princess  Eliza.,  Princesses  Mary  and  Sophia. 
The  Queen  and  each  of  the  Princesses  were 
pleased  to  drop  a  Courtesy,  and  then  the 
Queen  was  pleased  to  ask  me  one  or  two 
Questions.  .  .  . 

"After  being,'*  as  he  says,  "graciously  in- 
dulged with  the  opportunity  of  conversing 
with  the  King  and  Queen,  and  being  in  the 
same  room  with  them  three  quarters  of  an 
hour,*'  Mr.  Shoemaker  came  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Queen  was  "  a  charming  woman,  and 
if  not  a  beauty,  her  manners  and  disposition  are 
so  pleasing  that  no  Person  who  has  the  Oppor- 
tunity that  I  have  had  can  avoid  being  charmed 
with  the  sweetness  of  her  disposition.'* 

Mr.  Shoemaker  pronounced  the  King  "a 
man  of  great  benevolence,  without  one  grain 
of  tyranny  in  his  composition,"  in  which 
opinion  he  was  probably  seconded  by  the 
Wests,  as  George  III.  had  always  been  a 
warm  friend  of  the  artist.  The  royal  function 
being  over,  Mr.  Shoemaker  returned  to  the 
Wests*  home,  where  he  was  "entertained 
with  a  genteel  Dinner.** 

Charles  R.  Leslie  was  much  in  Mr.  West*s 
studio  when  in  London,  and  had  the  benefit 
of  the  criticism  of  the  veteran  artist,  copied 
some  of  his  pictures,  and  heard  him  lecture. 
In  one  of  his  letters  to  his  sister  he  speaks  of 
copying  West*s  "Arethusa  Bathing,**  and  of 
painting  the  artist*s  portrait.  In  another  letter 
he  describes  the  ceremonies  attending  the 
burial  of  Benjamin  West : 

66 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


**  I  suppose  you  will  have  received  the 
account  that  was  published  in  the  papers  of 
the  funeral  of  Mr.  West.  It  was  arranged, 
I  believe,  exactly  on  the  plan  of  that  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.  An  apartment  on  the 
ground  floor  of  the  Academy  was  hung  and 
carpeted  with  black,  the  daylight  entirely 
excluded,  and  the  room  lighted  by  a  number 
of  tall,  wax  candles,  placed  at  regular  dis- 
tances on  the  floor,  around  the  coffin,  which 
was  covered  by  a  pall  and  lid  of  black  feathers. 
Against  the  wall,  at  the  head  of  the  corpse, 
hung  the  hatchment  bearing  the  family  arms. 
No  one  remained  in  the  room  excepting 
Robert,  Mr.  West's  old  servant,  who  had 
sat  up  there  all  the  preceding  night.  My 
feelings  were  greatly  aff"ected  by  this  scene. 
The  company  who  were  to  attend  the  funeral 
assembled  in  a  large  upper  room,  where  they 
were  provided  with  black  silk  scarfs  and  hat- 
bands, the  Academicians  wearing  long  black 
cloaks.  It  was  interesting  to  see  persons  of 
different  ranks  and  of  different  sentiments 
meeting  on  this  occasion  and  uniting  in  the 
last  tribute  of  respect  to  a  man  of  genius. 
The  service  was  performed  by  Dr.  Wellesley, 
brother  to  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  In  one 
part  of  it  a  very  beautiful  anthem  was  sung  by 
the  boys  of  the  choir.  .  .  .  When  the  service 
was  finished  I  went  down  into  the  crypt 
beneath  the  church  and  saw  the  coffin 
lowered  into  the  grave.  I  was  not  aware  at 
the  time  that  the  tombs  of  Sir  Joshua,  Opie, 

67 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  Barry,  and  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  were 
all  near  the  same  place.  The  crowd  of 
persons  assembled  covered  them/' 

More  touching  even  than  these  impressive 
tributes  to  the  venerable  American  artist  were 
the  simple  words  spoken  by  his  servant  to  Con- 
stable, who  called  at  Benjamin  West's  house 
the  day  after  his  death.  Ah,  sir !  where  will 
they  go  now  said  he,  referring  to  the  younger 
artists,  to  whom  the  studio  of  the  master  had 
always  been  open,  and  at  whose  table  there 
were  always  a  cover  and  a  welcome. 

Matthew  Pratt,  a  Philadelphia  artist  of  con- 
siderable ability,  was  four  years  the  senior  of 
Benjamin  West,  although  he  did  not  come 
into  notice  until  some  time  after  the  latter  had 
won  distinction  abroad.* 

Matthew  Pratt  has  recorded  of  himself  that 
his  early  inclination  for  drawing  was  fostered 
by  his  mother's  brother,  James  Claypoole,  to 
whom  he  was  apprenticed  at  the  age  of  fifteen 
and  from  whom,  he  says,  *'I  learned  all  the 
different  branches  of  the  painting  business, 
particularly  portrait  painting,  which  was  my 
favorite  study  from  ten  years  of  age."  f 


*  Matthew  Pratt,  through  his  mother,  belonged  to  the 
Claypoole  family  of  Philadelphia,  which  has  so  frequently 
and  erroneously  been  spoken  of  as  descended  from  Oliver 
Cromwell.  The  American  Claypooles  are  descended  from 
James  Claypoole,  who  came  to  Pennsylvania  in  1683,  whose 
brother  John  married  Elizabeth  Cromwell,  the  much  loved 
daughter  of  the  stern  leader  of  the  great  English  rebellion. 

f  Dunlap's  **  History  of  the  Arts  of  Design." 

68 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


An  attractive  miniature  of  Rebecca  Clay- 
poole  Pratt,  the  mother  of  Matthew  Pratt,  is 
preserved  by  a  member  of  the  family.  The 
subject  of  this  miniature  was  born  in  1711,  and 
the  rounded,  youthful  appearance  of  the  face 
precludes  any  supposition  that  it  was  painted 
by  Matthew  Pratt,  whose  work  belongs  to  a 
later  period  than  that  in  which  his  mother's 
miniature  was  executed.  It  may  have  been 
the  work  of  some  early  Philadelphia  painter, 
or  of  some  artist  who  visited  that  city,  as  Mrs. 
Pratt  was  never  abroad.  This  miniature,  which 
affords  an  interesting  example  of  Colonial  art, 
may  have  been  painted  by  Rebecca  Pratt's 
brother,  James  Claypoole,  who,  as  Mr.  Charles 
Henry  Hart  says,  could  have  been  no  mean 
painter  to  have  trained  Matthew  Pratt  so 
well."  Of  James  Claypoole  as  an  artist  we 
know  little.  He  is  spoken  of  as  limner  and 
painter  in  general.'*  Dunlap  says  that  he  was 
painting  in  Philadelphia  in  1756.*  That  he 
was  a  man  greatly  respected  in  the  community 
may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  he  held  the 
office  of  Sheriff  of  Philadelphia  for  some  years. 

Matthew  Pratt  was  abroad  twice,  once  in 
1764  and  again  in  1778,  when  he  made  a  short 
visit  to  Ireland  and  painted  a  full-length 
portrait  of  Archdeacon  Mann,  of  Dublin,  in 


Mr.  Peale  states  in  his  diary  that  James  Claypoole  left 
Philadelphia  with  the  intention  of  joining  Benjamin  West 
in  London,  and  that  he  stopped  at  Jamaica,  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  days. 

69 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


his  robes.  During  Mr.  Pratt's  first  visit  to 
England,  he  studied  for  more  than  a  year  with 
Benjamin  West.  It  may  have  been  during 
this  time  that  he  executed  his  picture  of  The 
London  School  of  Artists,"  or  The  American 
School,*'  as  it  is  now  called,  which  represents 
West  surrounded  by  his  pupils,  Matthew 
Pratt  among  them.  ''This  picture,"  says  Mr. 
Thomas  Sully,  ''was  so  well  executed  that  I 
have  always  thought  it  was  a  copy  from  West." 

Edward  Edwards  in  his  "Anecdotes  of 
Painters"  says  of  Pratt:  "He  came  to  Lon- 
don in  the  year  1764  and  stayed  here  about  two 
years,  during  which  time  he  resided  chiefly 
with  his  countryman,  Mr.  West.  In  1765  he 
was  an  exhibitor  at  the  room  in  Spring-garden, 
and  again  in  the  year  following.  The  last 
picture  which  he  exhibited  was  entitled  '  The 
American  School.'  It  consisted  of  small  whole- 
length  figures,  which  were  the  portraits  of 
himself,  Mr.  West,  and  some  others  of  their 
countrymen,  whose  names  are  unknown  to 
the  author." 

"  The  picture,"  says  Mr.  Hart,  "is  extremely 
well  executed,  and  shows  the  precision  of 
no  tyro  hand.  The  arrangement  is  good  and 
the  color  harmonious  and  delicately  handled. 
Pratt's  own  figure  seems  somewhat  out  of 
proportion,  which  is  easily  accounted  for  by 
the  difficulty  of  painting  one's  self;  but  the 
middle  group  of  the  two  boys  at  the  table  with 
the  antique  bust  before  them  and  arras  back- 
ground is  a  charming  bit  of  work.    When  we 

70 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


recall  that  this  picture  was  painted  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  years  ago  by  an  American  who 
had  had  less  than  a  year's  study  in  London, 
we  think  we  are  justified  not  only  in  calling  it 
*  a  very  remarkable  picture/  but  in  claiming  for 
it  a  high  place  in  art  and  in  the  history  of 
American  art."  * 

From  London  Mr.  Pratt  went  to  Bristol, 
where  he  painted  for  eighteen  months,  when 
he  returned  to  Philadelphia  and  established 
himself  as  a  portrait  painter. 

Matthew  Pratt's  biographer  claims  for  him 
the  distinction  of  having  painted  the  earliest 
of  the  numerous  portraits  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. Among  his  later  portraits  are  those  of 
James  Hamilton,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Cad- 
wallader  Colden,  of  New  York.  For  this 
latter  portrait,  which  was  ordered  for  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  artist  received 
thirty-seven  pounds,  a  large  sum  in  those 
days.  Matthew  Pratt  also  painted  a  portrait 
of  himself,  which  is  not  only  well  done,  but 
represents  him  as  a  singularly  handsome  man. 

A  curious  commentary  upon  American  art 
at  this  period  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  Matthew  Pratt  was  better  known  as  the 
painter  of  some  very  excellent  signs  than  as 
a  portrait  painter.  Of  these  signs,  many  of 
which  showed  the  hand  of  a  true  artist,  Mr. 


^  Through  the  generosity  of  Mr.  S.  P.  Avery,  of  New 
York,  this  painting  of  "  The  American  School"  has  been 
placed  in  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 

71 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Dunlap  says:  ''Amongst  these,  perhaps  the 
best  was  a  representation  of  a  cock  in  a  barn- 
yard, which  for  many  years  graced  a  beer- 
house in  Spruce-Street ;  the  execution  of  this 
was  so  fine,  and  the  expression  of  nature  so 
exactly  copied,  that  it  was  evident  to  the  most 
casual  observer  that  it  was  painted  by  the  hand 
of  a  master.  Most  of  our  old  citizens  recol- 
lect the  sign  of  the  grand  Convention  of  1788,^ 
which  was  the  first  raised  at  the  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Chestnut  Streets.  On  this  piece 
Mr.  Pratt  gave  portraits  of  most  of  the  dis- 
tinguished men  assembled  on  that  occasion, 
and  for  some  time  the  streets  were  filled  with 
crowds  occupied  in  identifying  likenesses." 

Mr.  Peale  in  his  recollections  says:  Pratt 
was  in  New  York  in  the  early  months  of  the 
Revolution,  and  among  other  sketches  made 
some  of  the  fortifications  put  up  by  the  British. 
He  was  observed  while  making  these  sketches 
and  arrested  for  a  spy.  He  pleaded  innocence, 
and  from  his  diary,  which  was  found  upon 
him,  it  was  proved  that  he  was  an  artist  and 
that  his  sketches  were  in  the  cause  of  art.  He 
was,  of  course,  released.'' 

When  Copley  arrived  in  London,  he,  follow- 
ing in  the  footsteps  of  Benjamin  West,  devoted 
his  time  to  large  historical  and  allegorical  work, 
although  his  talent,  unlike  West's,  lay  in  the 
domain  of  individual  portraiture.   It  seemed  as 


^  Mr.  Dunlap  evidently  refers  to  the  Convention  of  1787, 
when  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  framed. 

72 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


if  Copley,  who  was  a  practical  genius,  turned 
his  attention  to  the  work  for  which  there  was 
the  greatest  demand.  Mrs.  Amory  records 
that  he  often  said,  after  his  arrival  in  England, 
that  he  could  not  surpass  some  of  his  earlier 
paintings.  Among  the  most  beautiful  of  these 
is  a  large  canvas  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Lee, 
dated  1769,  which  belonged  to  the  Tracy  family, 
of  Newburyport,  and  afterwards  to  General 
W.  R.  Lee,  of  Roxbury,  Mass.  A  portrait  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ralph  Izard,  of  South  Carolina, 
which  was  painted  by  Copley  in  Rome  in  1774, 
is  another  good  example  of  his  earlier  work. 

The  careers  of  Benjamin  West  and  John 
Singleton  Copley  have  been  thus  fully  dwelt 
upon  in  this  brief  review  of  Colonial  art  be- 
cause they  were  so  truly  pioneers  in  American 
painting,  gaining  for  it  a  place  in  the  galleries 
of  the  Old  World,  and  by  their  success  leading 
others  to  enter  the  same  field.*  Whatever 
criticism  may  be  made  upon  the  paintings  of 
these  two  artists,  none  can  fail  to  admire  the 
native  enthusiasm,  the  persistency,  the  pa- 
tience, the  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  art, 
and  also,  what  is  equally  important,  the  faith 
in  themselves,  of  these  early  American  artists. 
It  required  no  small  amount  of  courage  to 
adopt  for  their  life-work  a  career  that  was 
looked  upon  then,  and  has  been  in  much  later 


^  Charles  Willson  Peale,  John  Trumbull,  Gilbert  Stuart, 
and  Joseph  Wright  all  studied  with  Benjamin  West  in 
London. 

73 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


days  regarded,  as  an  elegant  accomplishment, 
the  amusement  of  a  leisure  hour,  rather  than 
as  a  serious  profession.  In  proof  of  the  small 
encouragement  given  to  art  as  a  profession, 
we  find  Halpine,  who  painted  in  Newport  in 
1773,  advertising  himself  as  a  portrait,  herald, 
and  sign  painter,  while  Smibert,  who  began 
life  as  a  house  painter,  executed  coats-of-arms 
as  well  as  likenesses.  Samuel  King,  who  in- 
structed both  AUston  and  Malbone,  made  and 
sold  mathematical  instruments  when  not  oc- 
cupied with  sitters,  while  in  a  Philadelphia 
paper,  some  years  later,  we  find  the  following 
composite  advertisement : 

"MINIATURE  PAINTING. 

"  By  John  Walters,  who  is  removed  to  the 
Home  of  Mr.  Mason,  Upholsterer,  in  Chestnut 
between  Front  and  Second-Streets. 

The  attention  the  subscriber  has  always 
paid  to  his  employees,  the  proficiency  he  has 
attained  in  the  art  he  professes,  joined  to  his 
(really)  moderate  charge,  he  hopes  will  procure 
him  a  continuance  of  the  favors  of  the  Public. 
His  price  is  from  3  dollars  to  one  guinea. 
Hair  work  faithfully  done  in  the  most  elegant 
manner,  at  a  reasonable  rate ;  lockets,  rings, 
hair-pins,  and  other  articles  in  the  jewelry  way, 
at  a  much  lower  rate  than  those  imported. 

'*JOHN  Walters/'* 


^  The  Pennsylvania  Packet  and  General  Advertiser^ 
Tuesday,  July  20,  1784. 

74 


Mrs.  John  Craig 
Page  75 


\ 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


It  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  American 
artists  as  Benjamin  West  and  John  Singleton 
Copley,  instead  of  devoting  their  mature 
powers  to  mythological  subjects  and  to  great 
canvases  representing  scenes  from  ancient 
and  modern  history,  did  not  turn  their  atten- 
tion to  some  familiar  phase  of  Colonial  life. 
Some  simple  domestic  scene — a  Puritan  wed- 
ding, a  Quaker  courtship,  or  a  Knickerbocker 
festival — would  be  of  great  value  to-day,  not 
only  as  a  work  of  art,  but  for  the  insight  it 
would  give  us  into  the  life  and  characteristics 
of  those  early  settlers  of  whom  we  know  so 
little  and  of  whom  we  would  know  so  much. 

Of  Colonial  portraits  there  are  many,  Copley's 
contributions  to  the  gallery  of  purely  American 
work  being  a  large  one ;  while  those  of  West, 
Peale,  and  the  Hesseliuses,  although  less  nu- 
merous, are  considerable.  The  miniatures  of 
the  same  period  are  few  and  far  between.  Many 
of  these  precious  heirlooms,  preserved  in  old 
families,  were  doubtless  executed  abroad,  or 
by  foreign  artists  who  visited  the  Colonies. 
The  fact  that  they  are  usually  unsigned  and 
undated  makes  it  difficult  to  classify  them. 

This  is  the  case  with  an  interesting  minia- 
ture preserved  in  the  Biddle  family  of  their 
ancestress  Mrs.  John  Craig,  a  graceful  and 
accomplished  Irish  girl,  whom  Mr.  John  Craig 
met  and  married  during  a  visit  to  the  island 
of  Tobago  in  the  West  Indies  in  1780.  This 
lady,  Margaret  M.  Craig,  was  a  daughter  of 
Mr.  Charles  Craig,  of  Dublin  and  of  Donovan, 

75 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Ireland,  and  was  not  related  to  the  Philadel- 
phia family  of  Craig,  to  which  her  husband 
belonged,  which  was  of  Scotch  origin.  Edu- 
cated abroad,  Mrs.  Craig  was  an  excellent 
French  scholar,  and  during  her  life  in  Phila- 
delphia her  house  was  a  constant  resort  of  the 
French  officers  who  were  in  America  during 
the  latter  years  of  the  Revolution,  and  of  the 
many  French  emigrants  of  education  and  rank 
who  found  their  way  to  America  in  the  next 
decade. 

Although  not  equal  in  merit  to  the  larger 
portraiture  of  the  time,  the  few  American 
miniatures  that  have  come  down  to  us  pos- 
sess a  quaint  attractiveness  of  their  own,  and 
are  interesting  as  early  examples  of  an  art 
which  was  being  carried  to  such  perfection  by 
Richard  Cosway  in  England,  and  was  destined 
later  to  gain  distinction  at  the  hands  of  the 
Peales,  Malbone,  and  Eraser  in  America. 


76 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  III.  SOME  ARTISTS  OF  THE 
REVOLUTION 

THE  Revolutionary  period  was  a  pro- 
ductive one  in  portraits  and  minia- 
tures, perhaps  because  in  those 
eventful  years  soldiership  and  statesmanship 
brought  many  men  into  prominence  who  in  a 
quieter  time  would  not  have  risen  to  sufficient 
importance  in  their  own  estimation  or  that 
of  others  to  have  their  portraits  painted. 
Charles  Willson  Peale  belongs  to  the  Colonial 
as  well  as  to  the  Revolutionary  period  of 
American  art ;  but  as  he  attained  his  greatest 
success  during  the  eight  years  of  the  war,  it 
seems  natural  to  classify  him  with  the  artists 
of  the  Revolution.  Among  these  he  was  a 
leader,  and  in  the  field  from  first  to  last,  often 
literally,  as  he  painted  a  number  of  miniatures 
in  camp.  Of  the  soldiers  and  statesmen  of 
the  new  era  Mr.  Peale  painted  many  portraits, 
those  of  Washington  being  the  most  numerous, 
beginning  in  1772  with  the  celebrated  three- 
quarter  length  of  the  young  Virginia  Colonel, 
and  reaching  down  to  a  short  time  before  his 
death.  The  last  of  Peale's  original  portraits 
of  Washington  seems  to  have  been  the  one 
executed  in  1795,  when  the  General  was  sixty- 
three  years  of  age. 

77 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Between  1772  and  1795,  in  addition  to  his 
many  portraits  in  oil,  Mr.  Peale  painted  a 
number  of  miniatures  of  the  Commander- 
in-Chief.  A  miniature  frequently  attributed 
to  Copley  is  a  rather  youthful  head  of  Gene- 
ral Washington,  an  engraving  of  which  by 
J.  De  Mare  appears  in  Irving's  Life  of 
Washington.*'  The  original  is  now  in  the 
Huntingdon  Collection  at  the  Metropolitan 
Museum  in  New  York,  and  was  pronounced 
by  Mr.  William  S.  Baker,  of  Philadelphia,  a 
Charles  Willson  Peale  miniature,  painted  in 
1777.  This  miniature  was  inscribed,  Wash- 
ington at  the  Age  of  Twenty-five,"  and  this  un- 
authorized statement,  says  Mr.  Charles  Henry 
Hart,  *'laid  the  foundation  for  the  assump- 
tion that  it  was  painted  in  Boston  in  1755  by 
Copley,  then  at  the  mature  age  of  eighteen. 
It  is  curiously  youthful  in  appearance  for  a 
man  of  forty-five,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  Washington  wore  a  youthful  visage,  and 
that  miniatures  discount  at  least  a  decade  from 
a  man's  years." 

Mr.  Peale  painted  a  miniature  of  Washing- 
ton in  the  autumn  of  1777,  as  he  wrote  in  1779 
to  Mr.  Edmond  Jennings,  then  in  Paris:  **I 
send  you  a  copy  in  miniature  of  our  worthy 
General,  which  I  took  on  the  march  to  the 
battle  of  Germantown.  The  likeness  is  some- 
thing different  from  that  which  his  Excellency, 
Lieutenant  Gerard,  carries  for  the  King,  but  I 
have  no  doubt  you  will  find  many  who  will 
know  it  at  first  sight." 

78 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


This  miniature,  sent  to  Mr.  Jennings,  was 
probably  a  replica  of  the  one  so  often  attributed 
to  Copley. 

Another  of  Mr.  Peale's  miniatures  of  Wash- 
ington was  painted  in  a  farm-house  in  New 
Jersey.  During  the  sitting,  the  General  re- 
ceived a  letter  announcing  the  surrender  of 
Burgoyne.  This  is  related  by  Rembrandt 
Peale  as  occurring  while  Mr.  Peale  was  in 
the  army  as  a  captain  of  volunteers:  Mr. 
Peale  had  his  table  and  chair  near  the  window, 
and  Washington  was  sitting  on  the  side  of  a 
bed,  the  room  being  too  small  for  another 
chair.  His  aide-de-camp,  Colonel  Tilghman, 
was  present.  It  was  an  interesting  moment, 
but  the  sitting  was  continued,  as  the  miniature 
was  intended  for  Mrs.  Washington."  Several 
of  Peale's  miniatures  of  the  General  were 
painted  for  his  wife,  some  of  them  to  be  worn 
in  bracelets.  Mrs.  Washington  wrote  to  Mr. 
Peale  from  New  Windsor  in  1780:  ''I  send 
my  miniature  pictures  to  you  and  request  the 
favor  of  you  to  get  them  set  for  me.  I  would 
have  them  as  bracelets  to  wear  round  the 
wrists.  ...  I  would  have  the  three  pictures 
set  exactly  alike,  and  all  the  same  size.  If 
you  have  no  crystals  yourself,  if  they  can  be 
had  in  the  city,  I  beg  you  to  get  them  for  me." 

In  reply  to  this  request  Mr.  Peale  wrote : 

Dr  Madam, — The  Jeweler  promises  me  to 
have  the  bracelets  done  in  a  few  days.  I  have 
begged  him  to  take  the  utmost  pains  to  set 

79 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


them  neatly.  As  no  foreign  glasses  were  to 
be  had,  I  have  moulded  some  of  the  best  glass 
I  could  find  and  got  a  Lapidary  to  polish  them, 
which  I  hope  will  not  be  inferior  to  those  made 
abroad.  I  have  cut  the  Pictures  to  one  size, 
and  mean  to  go  a  little  further  than  you  are 
pleased  to  direct, — that  is,  to  have  spare  loop- 
holes for  occasional  use  as  a  Locket, — and  the 
additional  expense  is  inconsiderable. 

Respectfully  yours, 

C.  W.  Peale. 

<<Mrs.  Martha  Washington." 

The  following  leaf  from  Washington's  ac- 
count book,  preserved  in  the  Department  of 
the  Interior,  may  refer  to  miniatures  of  Mrs. 
Washington  and  her  children  as  well  as  to 
one  or  more  of  the  General,  as  we  know  that 
when  Mr.  Peale  was  at  Mount  Vernon  in  1772 
he  painted  a  miniature  of  Mrs.  Washington 
for  her  son,  John  Parke  Custis.  This  minia- 
ture, now  in  the  possession  of  a  great-grand- 
daughter of  Mrs.  Washington,  Mrs.  Beverley 
Kennon,  of  Georgetown,  D.  C,  represents  a 
woman  about  forty,  and  although  quite  hand- 
some, lacks  the  charm  of  expression  that 
distinguishes  the  Stuart  portraits  painted  later : 

"  May  30th,  1772. 

By  Mr.  Peale  drawing  my  Picture    ,  .  .   £18  4  s. 
"  Miniature  for  Mrs.  Washington  ...  13 

"  Ditto  for  Miss  Custis   13 

"  Ditto  for  Mr.  Custis   13 

£57  4S." 

80 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Of  Charles  Willson  Peale*s  early  years,  we 
learn  that  he  was  born  in  St.  Paul's  Parish, 
Queen  Anne  County,  Maryland,  April  i6,  1741, 
three  years  later  than  Benjamin  West  and  four 
years  after  Copley.*  He  was  apprenticed  to  a 
saddler  in  Annapolis  when  a  boy,  and  after- 
wards pursued  that  trade,  with  the  addition  of 
those  of  coachmaker,  clock-  and  watch-maker, 
and  silversmith,  which  proves  him  to  have 
been  versatile  in  his  youth  as  in  his  mature 
years,  and  fond  of  mechanics  then,  as  he  was 
through  all  his  long  and  useful  life. 

Mr.  Dunlap,  quoting,  as  he  says,  from  Rem- 
brandt Peale,  states  that  the  influence  which 
seems  to  have  had  most  to  do  with  directing 
the  current  of  Charles  Peale 's  life  was  his 
meeting  with  Frazier,  while  on  a  business 
trip  to  Norfolk,  whose  paintings  so  impressed 
him  that  he  determined  to  try  his  hand  at  the 
same  profession.  In  his  recollections,  Mr. 
Peale  says  that  this  Frazier  was  a  brother  of 
Mr.  Joshua  Frazier,  of  Annapolis,  who  had 


*  The  birthplace  of  Charles  Willson  Peale  has  been  so 
often  given  as  Chestertown,  Maryland,  that  the  author  takes 
pleasure  in  making  the  above  correction.  The  mistake 
probably  arose  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Charles  Peale,  Sr., 
for  many  years  taught  a  free  school  in  Chestertown,  and 
that  he  died  there  in  1750.  He  left  a  widow  and  five  chil- 
dren,— Charles  Willson  Peale,  the  artist ;  Margaret  Jane, 
who  married  Colonel  Nathaniel  Ramsey  of  the  Continental 
army;  St.  George  Peale;  Elizabeth  Digby  Peale,  who  mar- 
ried Captain  Polk;  and  James  Peale,  the  miniature  and 
still-life  painter. 

6  8z 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


some  fondness  for  painting  and  had  painted 
several  landscapes  and  one  portrait,  with 
which  he  decorated  his  rooms.  That  Peale 
did  not  hold  Mr.  Frazier's  work  in  very  high 
esteem  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  he 
says  elsewhere  that  there  were,  previous  to  his 
own  time,  *'only  four  persons  [in  Maryland] 
professing  the  art  of  portrait  painting.  The 
first  was  Mr.  Cain,  Mr.  Hesselius,  Sr.,  Mr.  Wol- 
laston,  and  Mr.  John  Hesselius,  the  younger." 

John  Hesselius  was  living  at  Annapolis  about 
the  middle  of  the  century,  and  was  settled  at 
Bellefield  with  his  fair  widow  in  1763.  Charles 
Peale  says  that  he  offered  him  one  of  his  best 
saddles  with  its  complete  furniture  if  he  would 
allow  him  to  see  him  paint  a  picture.  Mr. 
Hesselius  accepted  the  offer,  painting  one-half 
of  the  face  of  a  portrait  and  leaving  the  other 
half  for  Peale  to  paint.  He  then  saw  Mr. 
Hesselius  paint  two  portraits. 

After  his  lessons  with  Hesselius,  the  most 
important  influence  that  entered  into  the  art 
life  of  Charles  Peale  was  the  result  of  a  visit 
made  to  Boston  in  1768.  Here  the  young  artist 
saw  a  number  of  Smibert's  unfinished  por- 
traits and  was  introduced  to  John  Copley,  the 
sight  of  whose  picture-room  was  a  great  feast 
to  his  hungry  eyes.  Peale  says  that  Mr. 
Copley  treated  him  very  civilly,  and  lent  him 
a  candle  light  to  copy." 

It  was  during  this  visit  to  Boston  that  Peale 
made  his  first  essay  at  miniature  painting, — a 
likeness  of  himself.   His  first  attempt  at  a  por- 

82 


Mrs.  James  Montgomery 
By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Page  91 


Mrs.  Charles  Willson  Peale 
(Rachel  Brewer) 
By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Page  83 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


trait  is  said  to  have  been  a  small  head — painted 
upon  a  board,  in  colors  procured  from  a  coach 
painter — of  a  lady  whom  he  had  seen  and  ad- 
mired in  church.  This  lady,  Miss  Rachel 
Brewer,  Charles  Peale  married  before  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  twenty.  The  courtship  of 
this  very  youthful  couple  is  thus  related  in  a 
family  chronicle : 

A  little  turned  of  17  Yrs.  he  [Charles  Will- 
son  Peale]  rode  beyond  South  River  to  see  a 
Boy  of  his  acquaintance.  Master  Jno.  Brewer. 
Having  enquired  the  way,  he  arrived  in  the 
time  Dinner  was  prepairing,  and  the  Kitchen 
being  in  the  way  to  the  Dwelling  House  he 
rapped  at  the  Door  to  enquire  if  Mrs.  Brewer 
lived  there.  Two  of  the  daughters  were  in  the 
Kitchen  to  look  to  the  preparations  of  Dinner, 
and  Miss  Rachel  hearing  the  rap,  supposed  it 
was  by  some  of  the  Negro  children,  and  called 
out  *  Go  round,  you  impudent  baggage,'  which 
was  immediately  obeyed  by  our  young  adven- 
turer. The  young  Ladies,  seeing  a  stranger, 
blushed  exceedingly,  making  many  apoligies 
for  their  rudeness.  Then  Charles  was  ushered 
into  the  House  and  treated  with  the  utmost 
civility.  This  Lady  who  accosted  him  so 
roughly  in  her  first  words  to  him  shortly  be- 
came his  favorite,  and  altho*  a  mere  boy  he 
began  seriously  to  pay  his  addresses  to  her. 
Miss  Rachel  belonged  to  the  class  of  small 
women,  of  fair  complexion,  altho'  her  Hair  was 
of  a  dark  brown  color  which  hung  in  curling 
ringlets  on  her  long,  beautiful  white  neck,  her 

83 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


face  was  a  perfect  oval,  she  had  sprightly  dark 
Eyes,  her  Nose  strait  with  some  few  angles, 
such  as  Painters  are  fond  to  imitate,  her 
Mouth  small  and  most  pleasingly  formed;  in 
short,  she  would  be  called  handsome  amongst 
the  beautiful  of  an  assembly  of  her  sex. 

How  captivating  is  beauty  when  joined  in 
a  person  desirous  to  please !  Her  manners 
were  soft,  modest,  gentle,  and  Innocent,  with  a 
becoming  affability,  her  mind  formed  to  piety 
by  the  example  of  an  Excellent  Mother. 

Our  Amorous  youth,  having  no  greater  wish 
than  becoming  the  Husband  of  so  fine  a  girl, 
begs  the  Mother's  permission  to  wait  on  her 
daughter  at  such  times  as  he  could  leave  his 
master's  business.    This  was  readily  granted. 

"  After  many  visits  and  when  Charles  thought 
he  had  secured  the  Ladle's  hearty  he  made  his 
proposals  of  Marriage,  but  unfortunately  for 
him,  he  was  too  pressing  on  this  occasion.  He 
knew  and  felt  the  openness  of  his  disposition, 
but  did  not  consider  that  the  delicacy  of  a  Lady 
required  a  more  tender  and  winning  proceeding 
to  produce  a  confession  of  Love,  and  which  by 
their  Education  they  are  taught  to  hide — to 
esteem  a  shame  and  weakness  to  discover. 
.  .  .  These  considerations  made  him  plead 
with  the  Lady  to  relieve  him  from  a  doubtful, 
painfull  situation  of  mind,  too  perplexing  to  be 
borne,  and  that  he  would  be  a  constant  and 
faithful  admirer,  ever  studious  to  please  her  in 
all  his  actions. 

"  During  the  most  of  this  discourse  the  young 
84 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Lady  was  silent  (perhaps  if  her  sister  had  not 
been  present  it  might  have  been  otherwise), 
and  now  having  used  every  argument  he  was 
master  of  to  persuade,  he  declared  that  she 
must  now  give  him  a  final  answer,  and  pulling 
out  his  Watch,  he  told  her  he  would  wait  one 
hour  for  her  determination.  And  when  the 
time  was  nearly  spent  he  became  more  uneasy, 
and  he  begged,  he  entreated, — that  in  5  minutes 
he  should  be  made  the  happiest  or  the  most 
miserable  of  beings. 

**The  Lady*s  resentment  prevented  any 
reply. — The  time  expired. — He  went  imme- 
diately to  the  House  and  thanked  her  Mother 
for  the  kind  entertainment  he  had  received,  and 
said  he  hoped  that  Miss  Rachel  would  get  a 
better  Husband  than  he  could  make.  That  he 
must  now  take  his  leave  of  the  family  forever. 
But  the  Sunday  following  he  called  at  Mrs. 
Brewer's  to  get  his  Whip,  which  in  his  hurry 
of  taking  leave  he  had  forgot.  He  then  only 
made  his  obedience  to  the  family,  and  after- 
wards rode  to  West  River.  .  . 

Although  the  chronicle  relates  that  young 
Peale  now  applied  himself  again  closely  to  his 
work,  having  lost  all  his  spare  time  in  a  fruit- 
less courtship,  we  learn  that  soon  after,  **On  a 
Summer's  evening  walking  out  for  recreation, 
by  chance  he  spied  Miss  Rachel  Brewer  before 
her  Aunt's  House  at  Annapolis.  After  the 
usual  salutation,  a  conversation  took  place,  in 
which  he  lamented  the  cause  of  his  absence 
from  her  Mother's  House.  Miss  informed  him 

85 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


that  he  was  precipitate,  and  that  the  manner 
of  his  treatment  of  her  did  not  deserve  an 
answer,  and  she  thought  that  she  acted  prop- 
erly by  remaining  silent,  and  that  if  he  chose 
to  take  it  as  a  denial,  she  was  not  blameable. 
He  then  begged  pardon,  and  asked  her  if  she 
would  forgive  him,  and  he  would  again  visit 
her  family,  which  the  Lady  assented  to.  He 
then  begged  her  to  promise  to  make  him  a 
decisive  answer  on  the  next  Sunday  and  he 
would  then  wait  on  her.  Miss  replied  that  she 
believed  she  would,  and  that  her  Mama  would 
be  glad  to  see  him. 

"  Accordingly  on  the  following  Sunday  he 
waited  on  her,  and  on  that  day  she  finally 
agreed  to  accept  him  for  her  intended  Hus- 
band. 

"  He  was  not  more  than  i8  Yrs.  old  at  this 
time,  and  he  ever  after  spent  all  the  time  he 
could  be  spared  from  his  master's  service  in 
his  attendance  on  the  Lady.  Let  it  hail,  rain, 
or  blow,  no  weather  deterred  him  from  crossing 
South  River  and  a  creek  every  week  to  visit 
Miss  Rachel  Brewer.*' 

Mr.  Peale's  visit  to  Boston  was  made  after 
his  marriage.  Some  time  prior  to  the  Boston 
journey  we  find  him  in  Philadelphia  buying 
paints  "at  Mr.  Christopher  Marshall's  colour 
shop,"  having  been  guided  in  the  selection  of 
these  colors  by  the  "Handmaid  of  the  Arts," 
which  the  young  Marylander  says  that  he  pur- 
chased "  at  Mr.  Rivington's  store,  corner  of 
Front  and  Market  Streets."   A  short  time  after 

86 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


his  return  from  Boston,  Mr.  John  Beale  Bord- 
ley  became  interested  in  Peale's  career. 
painting  of  his  [Peale's]  was  carried  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Bordley's,  and  the  Honorable  J.  B. 
Bordley  being  then  at  Annapolis  to  attend  the 
Governor's  Council,  of  which  he  was  a  member, 
this  piece  was  left  for  Mr.  Bordley  to  see  it. 
When  he  rose  in  the  morning  he  went  into  a 
cold  room,  where  the  picture  was  put,  before 
he  had  gartered  up  his  stockings,  and  staid 
there  viewing  it  near  2  hours,  and  when  he 
came  out  he  said  to  his  sister,  *  Something 
must  and  shall  be  done  for  Charles,'  and  he 
immediately  sent  for  him,  and  after  some  con- 
versation he  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  go 
to  England  to  get  improvement.  This  was 
readily  agreed  to,  and  Mr.  Bordley  drew  up  a 
paper,  intended  to  obtain  the  assistance  of  the 
wealthy.*' 

Upon  Mr.  Bordley's  paper,  which  he  himself 
headed  with  a  subscription  of  ten  guineas, 
were  the  names  of  Governor  Sharpe,  Bannister 
and  Charles  Carroll,  Daniel  Dulaney,  Robert 
Lloyd,  Thomas  Ringgold,  Daniel  of  St.  Thomas 
Jenifer,  Thomas  Sprigg,  and  Benjamin  Calvert. 

Provided  with  a  sum  of  money  amounting 
to  about  eighty-three  pounds  sterling,  and 
with  letters  of  introduction  to  Edmond  Jen- 
nings, Esq.,*  of  London,  to  Mr.  Ramsay, 
the  King's  painter,"  and  to  Benjamin  West, 


^  This  was  probably  Mr.  Jennings,  of  Maryland,  whom 
John  Adams  found  residing  in  Brussels  in  1780. 

87 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Charles  Peale  set  forth  upon  his  voyage  to 
England. 

In  London  the  young  artist  was  warmly 
welcomed  by  Benjamin  West,  who  not  only 
gave  him  instruction  in  his  studio,  but  offered 
him  a  home  in  his  own  house  when  his  funds 
were  exhausted.  It  was  at  this  time  that  West 
painted  Charles  Peale's  portrait, — a  poetical 
young  face,  very  different  from  the  spectacled, 
philosophical  gentleman  familiar  to  modern 
eyes. 

During  this  sojourn  in  England  Peale  im- 
proved his  opportunities  by  taking  lessons  in 
modelling  in  wax,  in  moulding  and  casting  in 
plaster,  in  engraving  in  mezzotint,  and  in 
miniature  painting.  From  whom  he  had  les- 
sons in  this  latter  art  he  does  not  say,  although 
in  one  of  his  letters  Peale  wrote :  *'  Mr.  West 
is  intimate  with  the  best  Miniature  Painter, 
and  intends  to  borrow  some  miniature  pieces 
for  me  to  copy  privately,  as  he  does  nothing 
that  way  himself." 

Soon  after,  the  young  American  was  indus- 
triously painting  miniatures,  having  been  rec- 
ommended to  his  patrons  by  a  jeweller  on 
Ludgate  Hill.  Finding  that  this  sort  of  paint- 
ing was  interfering  with  his  studies,  Peale 
raised  his  prices  from  two  to  three  guineas 
and  finally  to  four  guineas,  which  he  seems  to 
have  considered  a  rather  exorbitant  sum.  One 
of  his  miniatures  was  of  Mrs.  Russel  and 
her  granddaughter  in  one  piece,''  and  a  com- 
panion to  it,  containing  the  portraits  of  Masters 

88 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Thomas  and  Mathias  Bordley,  sons  of  the 
Honorable  John  B.  Bordley,  who  were  being 
educated  in  England  and  were  under  the  care 
of  Mr.  Edmond  Jennings.  During  his  return 
voyage  Peale  painted  two  portraits  and  one 
miniature.  The  latter  was  of  the  captain,  and 
in  order  to  accommodate  his  work  to  the 
motion  of  the  vessel,  he  says  that  he  ''held 
the  miniature  box  in  his  lap,  by  which  position 
the  box  moved  with  his  body  in  the  rolling  of 
the  ship." 

Soon  after  his  return  to  Annapolis,  Mr.  Peale 
painted  portraits  of  the  Bordleys,  CarroUs, 
and  other  well-known  Maryland  families.  In 
1771  and  in  1772  he  was  in  Philadelphia  and 
painted  some  miniatures  there.  Among  these 
is  one  of  Colonel  John  Nixon,  who,  in  July, 
1776,  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence  to 
the  multitude  assembled  in  the  State  House 
yard.  Mr.  Peale  wrote  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Bord- 
ley, from  Philadelphia  in  1772  that  he  had  **in 
hand  one  whole  length,  one  composition  of  Mr. 
Cadwallader,  Lady  and  Child  in  half  length, 
which  is  greatly  admired,  Mrs.  Dickinson  and 
Child  in  same  length,  a  portrait  of  a  Quaker 
Lady  who  is  very  pretty  in  the  dress  of  the 
Friends."  He  also  speaks  of  an  exceedingly 
good  likeness  of  the  great  Mr.  Rittenhouse, 
a  pencil  drawing  on  vellum,"  which  comprises 
his    exhibition  except  miniatures." 

In  1774  Mr.  Peale  says  that  he  had  so  many 
orders  '*in  Baltimoretown"  that  he  rented  part 
of  a  house,  where  he  and  his  family  lived  for 

89 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


two  winters.  Here  numerous  portraits  and 
miniatures  were  painted,  most  of  them  un- 
signed. He  was  again  painting  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1776;  but  soon  after,  being  an  ardent 
patriot,  he  raised  a  company  of  foot,  and  was 
with  Washington  during  many  important  bat- 
tles of  the  Revolution. 

While  in  camp  Mr.  Peale  painted  miniature 
portraits  of  many  of  his  brother  officers. 
Among  these  are  several  miniatures  of  Wash- 
ington and  one  of  Colonel  John  Laurens,  son 
of  Henry  Laurens,  of  South  Carolina.  This 
brave  young  officer,  sometimes  called  the 
Bayard  of  the  Revolution,  fought  a  duel  with 
Charles  Lee  after  the  battle  of  Monmouth  ''for 
disrespectful  language  to  his  Commander." 
After  having  rendered  distinguished  military 
and  diplomatic  service  to  his  country,  he  fell 
in  a  skirmish  in  South  Carolina.  Of  young 
Laurens  Washington  said,  "  He  had  not  a 
fault  that  I  could  discover,  unless  it  was  his 
intrepidity  bordering  upon  rashness."  Mr. 
Peale  also  painted  miniatures  of  Major  Wil- 
liam Jackson  and  General  Samuel  B.  Webb, 
of  Connecticut,  who  raised,  chiefly  at  his 
own  expense,  the  third  regiment  of  his  native 
State. 

In  July,  1780,  Mr.  Peale  writes  of  having 
purchased  a  house  in  Philadelphia  ''to  accom- 
modate me  in  my  profession."  This  house 
was  at  the  southwest  corner  of  Lombard  and 
Third  Streets,  which  was  at  that  time  a 
fashionable  part  of  the  city.  A  gallery  with  a 
^  90 


Major  Jonathan  Sellman  Colonel  John  Nixon 

By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Pages  90  and  96 


Colonel  John  Laurens 
By  Charles  Willson  Peale 
Page  90 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


skylight — the  first  in  this  city  and  perhaps  the 
first  in  the  country — was  added  to  the  house 
on  Lombard  Street. 

John  Adams  in  his  letters  speaks  of  making 
a  visit  to  C.  W.  Peale,  the  artist,  while  in 
Philadelphia,  and  describes  him  as  dressed  in 
fashionable  style  and  wearing  a  sword. 

In  his  recollections,  Mr.  Peale  speaks  of 
painting  miniatures  at  a  reduced  rate  at  this 
time,  in  order  to  raise  money  to  complete  the 
improvements  upon  his  property.  It  is  rea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  most  of  Mr.  Peale's 
Philadelphia  miniatures  were  executed  within 
the  next  few  years.  Among  these  are  beautiful 
miniatures  of  Robert  Morris  and  his  wife.  Of 
this  lady,  who  was  the  intimate  friend  of  Mrs. 
Washington  while  in  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia, Mr.  Joseph  Shippen  wrote  in  her  youth  : 

"  In  lovely  White's  most  pleasing  form, 
What  various  graces  meet ! 
How  blest  with  every  striking  charm  ! 
How  languishingly  sweet !" 

This  miniature  of  Mrs.  Morris  by  Peale  is 
much  more  attractive  than  her  full-length  por- 
trait by  the  same  artist,  in  which  she  appears 
in  a  very  high  and  imposing  head-dress. 

Mr.  Peale  also  painted  miniatures  of  Cap- 
tain and  Mrs.  James  Montgomery.  Captain 
Montgomery  was  one  of  the  original  members 
of  the  Cincinnati.  He  married,  in  1776,  Hester 
Griffitts,  a  daughter  of  William  Griffitts  and 
Abigail  Powel.    This  lady  was  a  cousin  of  the 

91 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Quaker  poetess,  Hannah  Griffitts,  who  wrote  a 
spirited  satire  upon  the  Meschianza  of  1778, 
under  the  title,    What  is  It 

An  interesting  chapter  of  Charles  Willson 
Peale's  career  is  that  which  treats  of  his  devo- 
tion to  the  natural  sciences.  About  1784  some 
bones  of  a  mammoth,  recently  discovered, 
were  brought  to  him,  and  the  idea  of  forming 
a  great  national  museum  of  natural  objects 
suggested  itself  to  his  active  mind.*  This 
new  pursuit,  which  occupied  much  of  his 
time  and  thought,  resulted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  celebrated  Peale  Museum,  which 
was  started  in  Mr.  Peale's  own  house  at  the 
corner  of  Third  and  Lombard  Streets.  Stran- 
gers and  citizens  contributed  to  enlarge  this 
collection,  and  in  a  few  years  Mr.  Peale's 
rooms  were  found  too  small  for  his  Museum. 
It  was  then  removed  to  the  hall  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  on  Fifth  Street,  where  it  was 
greatly  enlarged,  especially  by  the  addition  of 
the  skeleton  of  a  mammoth,  which  was  found 


^  Franklin  Peale,  in  his  notes  upon  his  father's  life, 
says  that  he  was  indebted  to  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel 
Nathaniel  Ramsay,  for  the  idea  of  this  natural  history  col- 
lection. While  visiting  Peale  in  Lombard  Street,  he  noticed 
the  thigh-bone  of  a  mammoth  in  a  neglected  corner,  and 
recommended  that  it  should  be  placed  in  the  picture  gal- 
lery, where,  according  to  his  ideas,  it  would  attract  more 
attention  than  all  the  pictures  that  Peale  had  painted.  Mr. 
Robert  Patterson  came  in  and,  noticing  the  bone  of  the 
mammoth  in  the  gallery,  added  a  paddle-fish,  which  had 
been  found  in  the  Western  waters,  towards  the  collection. 

92 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


in  Ulster  County,  New  York,  and  disinterred 
at  great  expense  and  labor.  This  skeleton,  or 
a  similar  one,  was  sent  by  Mr.  Peale  to  Lon- 
don. His  sons  Rembrandt  and  Rubens  ac- 
companied it. 

Dr.  William  Darlington,  a  celebrated  bot- 
anist of  West  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  took 
great  pleasure  in  describing  a  dinner  given  by 
Mr.  Peale  in  his  later  years,  after  he  had  com- 
pleted his  figure  of  the  mastodon  for  the 
Museum.*  Where  do  you  think  the  dinner 
was  given?**  asked  Dr.  Darlington,  in  relating 
his  story  to  a  granddaughter  of  the  artist. 
When  she  confessed  her  ignorance  and  her 
desire  to  be  informed,  Dr.  Darlington  told  her 
that  the  dinner  of  twelve  covers  was  given 
inside  the  mastodon,  which  was  set  up  in  the 
large  banquet-room  on  the  second  floor  of 
Independence  Hall,  adding,  "  You  will  allow 
me  to  repeat  my  toast  upon  the  occasion, 
*  Here's  to  the  Bonypartes  of  America.*  ** 
Mr.  Peale*s  dinner  was  given  when  Napoleon 
Bonaparte  was  at  the  height  of  his  glory. 

When  Mr.  Peale  removed  his  collection  to 
the  building  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  he 
and  his  family  accompanied  it  and  for  many 


*  The  Peale  Museum  was  removed  from  the  Philosoph- 
ical Society's  rooms  to  the  second  floor  of  Independence 
Hall  about  1800.  Mr.  Horace  W.  Sellers,  a  great-grand- 
son of  the  artist  and  collector,  says  that  the  figure  of  the 
mastodon  then  set  up  in  one  of  the  rooms  was  a  combina- 
tion of  real  and  artificial  bones,  while  that  sent  abroad  was 
probably  manufactured  throughout. 

93 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


years  made  their  home  in  the  rooms  of  the 
society.  The  windows  looked  out  upon  the 
yard  of  Independence  Hall,  which  was  enclosed 
by  a  high  board  fence.  The  yard  was  open 
during  the  day  and  evening,  but  at  nine  o'clock 
the  gates  were  closed,  and  in  this  pleasant 
garden  the  Peale  children,  who  were  versatile 
like  their  father  and  musical  as  well  as  artistic, 
amused  themselves  in  the  summer  evenings 
with  music  and  dancing.  Franklin  Peale  told 
his  daughter  that  he  sometimes  returned  home 
after  the  gates  were  locked  and  the  family  in 
bed,  when  he  would  gain  entrance  to  the  yard 
by  climbing  over  the  high  fence.  Upon  one  of 
these  occasions,  as  he  made  his  way  across 
the  yard,  he  noticed  a  light  in  one  of  the 
windows  of  Independence  Hall  for  which  he 
could  not  account.  Upon  closer  examination, 
Peale  became  convinced  that  some  portion  of 
the  building  was  on  fire.  He  hurried  home, 
secured  a  saw,  by  means  of  which  he  removed 
a  panel  in  the  back  door,  and  through  this  space 
he,  being  a  slender  lad,  was  able  to  creep  into 
the  Hall.  Inside  he  found  the  high  mantel 
over  one  of  the  chimney-places  on  fire,  but  as 
it  had  not  made  much  headway  he  was  able  to 
put  it  out  by  using  the  fire-buckets,  which  were 
always  kept  full  of  water  in  the  Hall.  All  this 
young  Peale  did  without  assistance  and  without 
alarming  his  family.  The  next  morning  there 
was  great  excitement  about  the  fire  in  Inde- 
pendence Hall,  of  which  no  one  knew  any- 
thing until  a  very  sleepy  young  man  came 

94 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


down  late  to  breakfast  and  described  the  exploit 
of  which  he  was  the  modest  hero. 

Mr.  Peale  made  some  copperplate  engrav- 
ings, chiefly  for  the  instruction  of  his  children. 
These  are  said  to  be  the  first  engravings  of  the 
kind  made  in  America.*  One  of  these  old 
pictures,  still  preserved  in  the  Peale  family, 
represents  a  scene  at  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Lombard  Streets,  and  gives  a  good  idea  of  the 
primitive  simplicity  of  the  streets  of  Phila- 
delphia, with  posts  along  the  sidewalks, — the 
same  posts  that  Mr.  William  Black  found  so 
inconvenient  upon  his  nocturnal  rambles  after 
a  fine  bowl  of  punch  had  been  enjoyed  at  a 
neighbor's  house.  Mr.  Peale's  engraving  repre- 
sents the  unhappy  fate  of  a  cake  or  pie  which 
has  slipped  from  the  hands  of  the  housemaid 
to  the  street,  upon  its  journey  from  the  bake- 
house to  the  table  for  which  it  was  intended. 
The  poor  girl  stands  on  one  side,  the  picture 
of  woe,  while  hungry  chimney-sweeps  joyfully 
gather  around  the  wreck  of  the  coveted  dainty. 

In  1791  Mr.  Peale  made  an  eff'ort  to  establish 
an  association  of  artists  in  Philadelphia.  In 
this,  and  in  subsequent  attempts  to  found  an 
Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts  in  the  Quaker  City, 
he  was  unsuccessful.   These  early  efforts  were, 

^  Among  Mr.  Peale's  engravings,  made  from  his  own 
paintings,  are  those  of  William  Pitt,  Earl  of  Chatham ;  of 
George  Washington,  Esq.,  head  and  bust,  three-quarter 
face ;  of  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  ;  of  Benjamin  Franklin ; 
and  of  the  Reverend  Joseph  Pilmore. — "American  En- 
gravers and  their  Works,**  by  William  S.  Baker. 

95 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


however,  valuable  as  suggestions,  helping  to 
prepare  the  way  for  an  Academy  of  the  Fine 
Arts  which  was  established  in  Philadelphia 
early  in  the  next  century. 

It  was  while  Charles  Willson  Peale  was  en- 
gaged in  public-spirited  work  for  his  city  and 
country  that  he  relinquished  his  miniature 
painting  in  favor  of  his  brother  James.  The 
latter  painted  during  the  Revolution,  executing 
some  pictures  of  still-life  and  some  portraits 
in  oil ;  but  he  is  best  known  through  his  minia- 
tures, painted  in  the  later  years  of  the  century. 
James  Peale  painted  in  the  South  as  well  as 
in  the  Middle  States,  and  many  of  the  South- 
ern miniatures  spoken  of  as  **by  Peale*'  were 
probably  painted  by  this  younger  brother  of 
Charles  Willson  Peale.  A  miniature  of  Major 
Jonathan  Sellman  is  thus  spoken  of  by  its 
owners,  but  this  particular  Peale  miniature 
was  doubtless  the  work  of  Charles  Willson 
Peale,  and  may  have  been  painted  while  Major 
Sellman  was  in  the  army.  He  served  as  cap- 
tain in  the  Maryland  line,  was  with  Washing- 
ton at  Valley  Forge,  and  was  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  major  toward  the  close  of  the  war. 

Mr.  Peale  painted  a  miniature  of  his  first 
wife,  who  died  in  1790,  and  of  his  second  wife, 
who  was  a  Miss  de  Peyster,  of  New  York. 
This  lady  he  met  while  she  was  making  a 
visit  to  Philadelphia  in  1791.  Some  friends 
brought  her  to  the  Museum,  and  after  look- 
ing at  the  collection,  Mr.  Peale  records  that 
the  company  sang  together  joyously.  Miss 

96 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


de  Peyster  bore  her  part  in  the  song,  Hush, 
Every  Breeze,'*  with  so  melodious  a  voice 
that  Mr.  Peale  remarked  to  his  friend  Mr. 
James  Bogart,  So  sweet  a  voice  bespeaks  a 
harmonious  mind.''  The  lover,  in  his  recol- 
lections, describes  Miss  de  Peyster  as  *'of  a 
sedate  countenance,  of  a  fat  rather  than  a 
lean  figure,  not  very  talkative,  but  rather  of  a 
serious,  motherly  appearance." 

This  latter  quality  must  have  appealed 
strongly  to  the  middle-aged  widower  with 
his  brood  of  motherless  children  at  home,  and 
we  find  him  soon  after  ''waiting"  assiduously 
upon  Miss  de  Peyster,  who  was  stopping  at 
the  home  of  her  brother-in-law.  Major  Stagg, 
and  soon  after  painting  her  miniature.  Mr. 
Peale  had  recorded  earlier  in  his  diary  that  "  a 
portrait  painter  cannot  but  be  sensible  of  the 
attractions  of  a  lovely  sitter."  These  attrac- 
tions proved  irresistible,  combined  with  the 
fact  that  Miss  de  Peyster  encouraged  the 
artist,  when  he  spoke  of  his  numerous  family 
as  a  drawback  to  him  in  obtaining  a  wife,  by 
telling  him  that  her  father  had  been  a  widower 
with  children  and  yet  succeeded  in  providing 
them  with  a  stepmother.  An  engagement  was 
entered  into  by  Mr.  Peale  to  accompany  the 
lady  upon  her  return  to  New  York. 

In  his  diary,  which  is  written  in  the  third 
person,  Mr.  Peale  describes  the  stage  journey 
to  New  York,  when  he  and  Miss  de  Peyster 
were  accompanied  by  his  daughter  Angelica, 
Dr.  Armstrong,  Dr.  Witherspoon,  Mr.  Bring- 
7  97 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


hurst,  Junior,  and  a  Methodist  who  took  Mr. 
Bringhurst  and  Angelica  Peale  to  task  for  ad- 
mitting that  they  sometimes  attended  the  play. 

Arrived  in  New  York,  Mr.  Peale  conducted 
his  lady-love  to  her  father's  house,  where  he 
was  warmly  welcomed.  After  dining  at  his 
lodgings  and  mending  his  dress,''  he  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  De  Peyster  mansion  as 
a  suitor  for  the  hand  of  his  *'dear  Miss  Bet- 
sey," when,  he  says,  he  was  '*not  able  to  do 
justice  to  the  affectionate  manner  in  which 
Mr.  de  Peyster  relieved  him  of  fears  and 
anxiety.  He  cannot  describe  in  any  language, 
he  cannot  pen,  the  good,  the  kind,  the  affec- 
tionate words  and  manner  in  which  he  spoke 
comfort  to  their  souls." 

During  this  visit  Mr.  Peale  began  to  paint  a 
miniature  of  Mr.  William  de  Peyster  ''for 
Miss  Betsey  (so  called),"  although  most  of 
his  time  seems  to  have  been  spent  in  making 
visits  and  excursions  with  his  fiancee  to  the 
homes  of  her  numerous  relatives  and  friends. 
They  drove  to  Mr.  Nicholas  de  Peyster's 
handsome  country-seat,  seven  miles  distant 
from  the  city,  where  they  dined  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Cuisine,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bogart,  and  more 
De  Peysters.  Here  the  artist's  eyes  were 
feasted  with  the  pleasing  perspective,  while 
near  him,  upon  a  rustic  bench,  he  says,  his 
Betsey  sat,  who  ''looked  charmingly  and  also 
delighted  his  ears  with  her  melodious  voice  in 
several  songs.  They  strummed  the  guitar  and 
talked  of  love." 

98 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


One  morning  he  started  to  work  upon  the 
miniature  of  Mr.  de  Peyster,  when  Mrs. 
Cuisine  called  for  him  '*to  take  a  ride  with 
the  Ladies  to  a  Tea  House  about  four  miles 
out  of  the  City,  a  very  pleasant  situation  on 
the  East  River,  where  they  stayed  until  dinner 
time,  returned  and  dined  at  Mr.  Bogart's.'' 

During  this  visit  to  New  York  Mr.  Peale 
was  married  to  his  '*dear  Miss  Betsey,''  the 
ceremony  being  performed  by  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Linn,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  in  the 
presence  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  de  Peyster, 
John  and  Philip  de  Peyster,  and  Angelica 
Peale.* 

After  the  wedding,  art  seemed  to  progress 
with  fewer  interruptions  in  the  way  of  visits 
and  junketings.  The  miniature  of  Mr.  William 
de  Peyster  was  finished  and  a  replica  begun  to 
be  given  to  his  wife  in  order  to  induce  her  to 
sit  for  her  portrait.  A  miniature  of  Angelica 
Peale,  afterwards  Mrs.  Alexander  Robinson, 
of  Baltimore,  was  also  painted  at  this  time. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Peale's  marriage  he  went  to 
the  Eastern  Shore  of  Maryland,  where  he  had 
engagements  to  paint  several  pictures.  Mrs. 
Peale  accompanied  her  husband  upon  this  trip. 

Mr.  Peale  painted  a  portrait  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Gittings,  who  lived  near  Baltimore,  and  finished 

*  Angelica  Peale  was  the  beautiful  girl  who  stood  near 
the  triumphal  arch  erected  in  Washington's  honor  at  Gray's 
Ferry  in  1789,  and  lowered  a  laurel  wreath  upon  the  brow 
of  the  hero  as  he  passed  under  it,  upon  his  journey  to  the 
capital. 

99 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


portraits  of  the  children  of  Mr.  John  Calahan, 
of  Annapolis,  begun  upon  a  previous  visit  to 
that  city.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Peale  then  set  sail 
in  Colonel  Lloyd's  schooner  for  Wye  Island, 
where  they  visited  the  Bordleys,  Lloyds,  Golds- 
boroughs,  and  Haskenses,  and  *'were  waited 
on  by  Dr.  Troup  and  his  lady  and  the  Widow 
Troup.''* 

Interesting  and  delightful  are  Mr.  Peale's 
recollections  of  this  sojourn  in  Maryland  with 
his  new  wife.  They  met  friends  at  every  turn, 
and  many  portraits  were  painted ;  although  at 
the  house  of  a  certain  Mr.  Smoot,  where  they 
stopped  over-night,  and  at  church  on  Sunday, 
Mr.  Peale  heard  of  two  rival  artists,— a  Mr. 
Mews,  who  was  painting  miniatures  of  the 
Smoot  children,  and  a  French  painter,  Mr. 
Loise,  from  Annapolis,  who  paints  in  a  new 
stile."  This  was  too  much  for  the  usually 
amiable  artist,  who  indulged  in  a  mild  sarcasm 
with  regard  to  the  Frenchman,  asking  if  this 
gentleman  so  cried  up  will  do  better  than  Mr. 
Pine,  whose  reputation  was  equally  cried  up."  f 

Mr.  Peale's  children  were  named  after  great 
artists,  Rembrandt,  Raphaelle,  Titian,  Rubens, 
Sophonisba,  and  Angelica, — the  last  named  after 
Angelica  KaufTmann, — and  they,  like  the  good 
children  that  they  were,  strove  to  fulfil  the  des- 


^  For  all  the  spellings  of  proper  names  mentioned  in 
these  recollections,  Mr.  Peale  alone  is  responsible. 

f  Robert  Edge  Pine,  who  came  to  America  in  1785  and 
painted  numerous  portraits  at  Mount  Vernon  and  elsewhere. 

ICQ 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


tiny  thus  forecast  by  their  father.  They  were 
nearly  all  artists  of  more  or  less  ability,  while 
Franklin  Peale,  who  was  born  in  the  building  of 
the  Philosophical  Society,  and  named  after  its 
founder,  naturally  turned  his  attention  to  scien- 
tific pursuits  and  to  mechanical  invention. 

Another  American  painter,  who  had  a  varied 
career  and  combined  several  important  voca- 
tions with  that  of  an  artist,  was  John  Trum- 
bull. The  son  of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  the  War 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  and  of  Faith  Robin- 
son, daughter  of  the  Reverend  John  Robinson, 
of  Duxbury,  who  was  a  direct  descendant  of 
John  Alden  and  Priscilla  MuUins,  John  Trum- 
bull belonged  to  a  family  distinguished  in 
Colonial  and  Revolutionary  annals.*  Jonathan 
Trumbull,  who  was  the  Governor  of  Con- 
necticut before  as  well  as  during  the  War  of 
the  Revolution,  was  the  original  of  the  now 
well-known  Brother  Jonathan."  A  warm 
friendship  existed  between  the  Commander-in 
Chief  and  Governor  Trumbull,  to  whom,  so 
runs  the  story,  Washington  would  often  turn 
in  times  of  difficulty,  saying,  Lrct  us  see  what 
Brother  Jonathan  can  do  for  us."  It  was 
Faith  Trumbull,  the  wife  of  Governor  Jonathan 
Trumbull,  who  rose  up  in  the  Lebanon  meet- 

^  Another  John  Trumbull  of  Connecticut,  six  years  the 
senior  of  Colonel  John  Trumbull,  was  the  author  of  a 
number  of  poetical  satires.  "  McFingal/*  the  best  known 
of  Mr.  Trumbull's  works,  is  a  poem  cast  in  the  form  of 
Butler's  "  Hudibras,"  in  which  the  characters,  customs,  and 
fashions  of  the  time  of  the  Revolution  are  cleverly  satirized. 

lOI 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


ing  and  contributed  her  handsome  red  cloak  to 
help  supply  the  needs  of  the  army. 

In  one  of  the  many  elaborate  eulogies  pro- 
nounced upon  Madam  Trumbull  at  the  time 
of  her  death,  in  1780,  the  story  of  her  donation 
of  her  fine  red  cloak  is  thus  related : 

During  the  War — after  divine  service  on  a 
Sunday,  or  on  a  Thanksgiving  Day — contribu- 
tions were  often  taken  in  church  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Continental  Army.  Cash,  finger-rings, 
ear-rings,  and  other  jewelry — coats,  jackets, 
breeches,  shirts,  stockings,  hats,  shoes,  every 
article,  in  fact,  of  male  attire — besides  groceries 
in  great  variety — were  frequently  thus  col- 
lected— in  New  England  particularly,  in  large 
quantities.  Upon  one  such  occasion  in  Leba- 
non Meeting  House,  Connecticut,  after  notice 
given  that  a  collection  would  be  taken  for  the 
soldiers — Madam  Faith  Trumbull  rose  from  her 
seat  near  her  husband — threw  off  from  her 
shoulders  a  magnificent  scarlet  cloak — a  present 
to  her,  we  hear  on  good  authority,  from  the 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  French  allied  army, 
Count  Rochambeau  himself — and,  advancing 
near  the  pulpit,  laid  it  on  the  altar  as  her 
offering  to  those  who,  in  the  midst  of  every 
want  and  suffering,  were  fighting  gallantly  the 
great  Battle  for  Freedom.  It  was  afterwards 
taken,  cut  into  narrow  strips,  and  employed,  as 
red  trimming,  to  stripe  the  dress  of  American 
soldiers.''^ 


*  "  Life  of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Senior,"  by  I.  W.  Stuart. 

102 


Faith  Trumbull 
By  John  Trumbull 
Page  112 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  patriotism,  with 
three  brothers  in  the  army,  it  is  not  strange 
that  John  Trumbull  should,  in  the  early  days 
of  the  Revolution,  have  formed  a  military 
company  from  among  the  young  men  of  his 
native  village,  Lebanon.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen he  was  adjutant  of  the  First  Connecticut 
Regiment,  and  a  little  later  aide-de-camp  to 
General  Washington.  In  July,  1776,  Trumbull 
was  made  adjutant-general  with  the  rank  of 
colonel,  was  with  Washington  at  Trenton,  and 
accompanied  General  Benedict  Arnold  upon 
his  expedition  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island. 

A  soldier,  a  statesman,  and  an  ardent  patriot, 
John  Trumbull  is  best  known  to-day  as  the 
author  of  some  of  the  most  spirited  of  the 
Washington  portraits,  and  of  a  number  of 
portraits  and  miniatures  of  soldiers  and  states- 
men of  the  Revolution  and  of  the  belles  and 
beauties  of  the  period.  Trumbull's  Hamilton 
may  be  somewhat  idealized, — the  fine  head 
certainly  suggests  larger  stature  than  that  of 
the  original, — but,  at  the  same  time,  it  gives  a 
truer  conception  than  most  of  the  Hamilton 
portraits  of  the  intellectual  power  of  one  of 
the  greatest  thinkers  of  his  time.  Of  his  own 
early  attempts  at  drawing  Trumbull  thus  speaks 
in  his  autobiography : 

My  taste  for  drawing  began  to  dawn  early. 
It  is  common  to  talk  of  natural  genius ;  but  I 
am  disposed  to  doubt  the  existence  of  such  a 
principle  in  the  human  mind ;  at  least,  in  my 
own  case.    I  can  clearly  trace  it  to  mere  imi- 

103 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


tation.  My  two  sisters,  Faith  and  Mary,  had 
completed  their  education  at  an  excellent 
school  in  Boston,  where  they  both  had  been 
taught  embroidery ;  and  the  eldest,  Faith,  had 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  drawing,  and  had 
even  painted  in  oil,  two  heads  and  a  landscape. 
These  wonders  were  hung  in  my  mother's 
parlor,  and  were  among  the  first  objects  that 
caught  my  infant  eye.  I  endeavored  to  imitate 
them,  and  for  several  years  the  nicely  sanded 
floors  (for  carpets  were  then  unknown  in 
Lebanon)  were  constantly  scrawled  with  my 
rude  attempts  at  drawing.'' 

Young  Trumbull's  inclination  towards  an 
artistic  career  was  not  encouraged  by  his 
father,  who  desired  him  to  take  a  classical 
course  at  Harvard  with  a  view  to  having  him 
enter  one  of  the  learned  professions.  It  was 
not  until  the  close  of  his  service  in  the  army 
that  he  was  able  to  apply  himself  seriously 
to  the  study  of  art.  While  in  Boston,  he 
occupied  the  studio  of  Smibert,  in  which  he 
says  that  he  found  several  copies  made  by  the 
elder  artist  from  celebrated  pictures  in  Europe 
which  were  useful  to  him.  From  copying 
these  paintings,  and  from  whatever  inspiration 
may  have  come  to  him  from  walls  that  had 
echoed  to  the  voices  of  Smibert,  Blackburn, 
and  Copley,  the  young  Connecticut  artist  was 
able  to  accomplish  a  respectable  amount  of 
work  before  he  had  had  the  benefit  of  any 
especial  instruction  either  at  home  or  abroad. 
Among  these  early  works  are  some  portraits 

104 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  the  artist's  own  family,  one  of  Major 
General  Huntington  and  his  son,  of  Elisha 
Williams,  and  Thomas  Dawes.  In  addition  to 
his  life-size  portraits,  John  Trumbull  painted 
some  small  heads  on  copper  of  the  Misses 
Apthorp  and  of  the  Misses  Sheaffe,  which  gave 
promise  of  the  miniature  work  in  which  he 
was  afterwards  so  successful. 

While  living  in  Boston,  Colonel  Trumbull 
met  Mr.  Temple,  afterwards  Sir  John  Temple, 
who  strongly  urged  his  going  to  London  to 
study  with  Benjamin  West.  Mr.  Temple  com- 
municated with  Lord  George  Germain,  the 
British  Secretary  of  State,  upon  the  subject  of 
Colonel  Trumbull's  voyage  to  England  in  the 
unsettled  state  of  affairs,  and,  being  assured 
that  he  would  not  be  molested  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  art,  he  set  forth. 

In  Paris  Mr.  Trumbull  met  Dr.  Franklin 
and  his  grandson.  Temple  Franklin,  and  John 
Adams  and  his  son,  John  Quincy  Adams. 
From  Dr.  Franklin  he  procured  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  Benjamin  West,  who,  as  he 
says  in  his  recollections,  received  him  most 
kindly,  offering  him  any  picture  that  he  chose 
to  copy  from  his  own  collection.*  Here  John 
Trumbull  first  saw  Gilbert  Stuart,  who  was 
studying  with  West.  He  says:  **With  his 
[Stuart's]  assistance  I  prepared  my  materials 


*  The  material  from  which  this  brief  sketch  of  Colonel 
Trumbull  is  made  has  been  drawn  chiefly  from  his  own 
"  Autobiography,  Reminiscences,  and  Letters." 

I05 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  proceeded  to  my  work.  When  Mr.  West 
afterwards  came  into  the  room  to  see  how  I 
went  on,  he  found  me  commencing  my  outline 
without  the  usual  aid  of  squares.  '  Do  you 
expect  to  get  a  correct  outline  by  your  eye 
only?"  *  Yes,  sir;  at  least  I  mean  to  try.'  'I 
wish  you  success.*  His  curiosity  was  excited, 
and  he  made  a  visit  daily  to  mark  my  progress, 
but  forbore  to  offer  me  any  advice  or  instruc- 
tion. When  the  copy  was  finished,  and  he  had 
carefully  examined  and  compared  it,  he  said, 
*  Mr.  Trumbull,  I  have  now  no  hesitation  to  say 
that  nature  intended  you  for  a  painter.  You 
possess  the  essential  qualities ;  nothing  more 
is  necessary  but  careful  and  assiduous  cultiva- 
tion.' With  this  stimulant,  I  devoted  myself 
assiduously  to  the  study  of  the  art,  allowing 
little  time  to  make  myself  acquainted  with  the 
curiosities  and  amusements  of  the  city." 

While  Colonel  Trumbull  was  studying  in 
Mr.  West's  studio,  news  of  the  treason  of 
General  Arnold  and  the  execution  of  young 
Major  Andre  reached  London.  Public  feeling 
ran  high  at  this  time.  John  Andre  was  a  brave 
young  officer,  greatly  beloved,  with  much  to 
recommend  him.  To  many  minds  his  sentence 
seemed  unwarrantably  severe.  Mr.  Andre," 
says  Colonel  Trumbull,  ''had  been  the  deputy 
adjutant-general  of  the  British  army,  and  I  a 
deputy  adjutant-general  in  the  American,  and 
it  seemed  to  them  that  I  should  make  a  perfect 
pendant y  Accordingly,  on  his  return  to  his 
lodgings  one  evening,  Colonel  Trumbull  was 

1 06 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


arrested,  his  papers  seized,  and  he  carried  off 
to  a  lockup-house,  the  Brown  Bear  in  Drury 
Lane/*  He  was  afterwards  taken  to  Tothill- 
Fields  bridewell,  where  he  was  a  prisoner  for 
seven  months,  during  which  time  he  says  that 
he  became  acquainted  with  the  darkest  side  of 
human  nature,  and  upon  one  occasion  had  a 
highwayman  for  a  bedfellow. 

As  soon  as  Mr.  West  heard  of  the  arrest  of 
the  young  artist,  he  sought  an  audience  with 
the  King,  and  used  every  means  in  his  power 
to  alleviate  the  condition  of  his  countryman. 
The  King  assured  Mr.  West  upon  his  royal 
word  that  '*in  the  worst  possible  event  of  the 
law  his  life  should  be  safe.''  Even  with  this 
powerful  influence  in  his  favor,  John  Trumbull 
was  allowed  to  remain  in  prison  seven  months. 
Fortunately,  he  was  furnished  with  colors  and 
brushes  through  the  kindness  of  Mr.  West, 
and  with  the  latter' s  copy  of  Correggio's  St. 
Jerome  of  Parma  for  a  study,  he  was  able  to 
pass  away  the  long  hours  of  captivity  in  his 
favorite  pursuit. 

In  artistic  work,  as  in  all  else  that  involves 
the  higher  intellectual  powers,  the  sojourn  in 
the  desert,  the  hours  of  seclusion  and  concen- 
tration, that  precede  public  acknowledgment, 
are  often  the  most  important  factors  of  suc- 
cess. A  prison  may  not  seem  an  inspiring 
place  in  which  to  work;  but  John  Trumbull's 
prison  had  the  advantage  of  being  a  room  on 
the  ground  floor  opening  into  a  garden,  in 
which  he  was  allowed  to  walk.    Here  he 

107 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


finished  the  Correggio,  which  is  now  in  the 
Yale  College  collection  at  New  Haven. 

Colonel  Trumbull's  release  was  finally  ef- 
fected through  the  influence  of  Edmund  Burke, 
who  obtained  an  order  from  the  King  to  admit 
him  to  bail,  Benjamin  West  and  John  Single- 
ton Copley  becoming  sureties  for  their  young 
countryman.  As  soon  as  he  was  released. 
Colonel  Trumbull  set  forth  for  Holland,  from 
whence  he  sailed  for  America,  and  finally 
reached  **the  haven  where  he  would  be'*  after 
an  eventful  and  perilous  voyage.  His  second 
visit  to  London  was  in  January,  1784,  when  he 
again  studied  under  Mr.  West  and  drew  at  the 
Royal  Academy  by  the  side  of  Thomas  Law- 
rence, who  was  afterwards  its  president. 

Following  in  the  footsteps  of  his  master  and 
the  fashion  of  the  day,  Trumbull  painted  a 
number  of  large  canvases.    He  copied  West's 

Battle  of  La  Hogue,''  which  he  calls  a  glo- 
rious picture,  and  soon  afterwards  made  his 
first  attempt  at  the  composition  of  a  military 
scene, — the  death  of  General  Eraser  at  Be- 
mus   Heights,* — which  was  followed  by  a 


^'  General  Fraser  was  second  in  command  to  Burgoyne 
at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  or  Bemus  Heights.  He  was 
shot  and  mortally  wounded  by  one  of  Morgan's  riflemen. 
During  his  last  hours  he  was  tenderly  ministered  to  by  the 
Baroness  Riedesel,  who  was  living  near  the  British  encamp- 
ment at  the  time.  This  kindly  German  lady  has  left  in  her 
journal  a  touching  description  of  the  last  hours  of  General 
Fraser  and  of  his  burial,  when  Mr.  Brudenell  read  the  ser- 
vice, amid  shot  and  shell  from  the  American  army  near  by, 

108 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


painting  of  the  death  of  General  Warren  at 
Bunker's  Hill  and  of  that  of  General  Mont- 
gomery in  the  attack  upon  Quebec. 

In  his  autobiography  Colonel  Trumbull  tells 
an  amusing  story  of  his  relations  with  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.  After  executing  portraits 
of  Colonel  Wadsworth  and  his  son,  he  sub- 
mitted them  to  Sir  Joshua  for  his  criticism, 
who  exclaimed,  in  a  quick,  sharp  tone,  *'That 
coat  is  bad,  sir,  very  bad ;  it  is  not  cloth,  it  is 
tin,  bent  tin.''  Trumbull  says  that  he  was 
conscious  of  the  defects  in  his  portraits,  but 
that  he  considered  the  criticism  unwarrantably 
severe.  Some  months  later  Mr.  West  invited 
him  to  dine  at  his  house  in  company  with 
several  other  artists.  Upon  this  occasion  the 
guests  were  received  in  the  painting-room, 
where  Trumbull's  nearly  completed  picture  of 
the  battle  of  Bunker's  Hill  was  placed  in  a 
good  light.  *'When  Sir  Joshua  entered  the 
room,"  says  Colonel  Trumbull,  *'he  imme- 
diately ran  up  to  my  picture, — *  Why,  West, 
what  have  you  got  here  ? — this  is  better  colored 
than  your  works  are  generally.'  *  Sir  Joshua' 
(was  the  reply),  *you  mistake — that  is  not  mine 
— it  is  the  work  of  this  young  gentleman,  Mr. 
Trumbull ;  permit  me  to  introduce  him  to  you.' 
Sir  Joshua  was  at  least  as  much  disconcerted 
as  I  had  been  by  the  bent  tin;  the  account 
between  us  was  fairly  balanced." 

The  next  year  Colonel  Trumbull  travelled 
on  the  Continent,  and  had  the  benefit  of  seeing 
and  studying  many  noble  works  of  art.  His 

109 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


observations  not  only  upon  pictures,  but  also 
upon  persons  and  places,  show  him  to  have 
been  a  man  of  taste  and  judgment,  an  interest- 
ing writer,  as  well  as  a  good  artist.  Among 
distinguished  foreigners  whom  he  met  upon 
this  trip  were  the  Count  de  Vergennes,  M.  de 
Moustier,  who  later  represented  his  country 
in  the  United  States,  his  sister,  Madame  de 
Brehan,  and  the  beautiful  Countess  de  Bonouil, 
who  nearly  lost  her  head  in  consequence  of 
her  epigrammatic  description  of  the  corona- 
tion of  Alexander  I.  of  Russia,  upon  which 
occasion  she  wrote  home:  *'The  Emperor 
walked  in  grand  procession,  the  assassins  of 
his  father  preceding  him,  those  of  his  grand- 
father following  him,  and  his  own  surrounding 
him  on  all  sides." 

Trumbull  evidently  had  an  artist's  apprecia- 
tion of  beauty,  especially  of  the  beauty  of 
women.  His  pencil  sketches  of  *^  Madame 
Payen'*  and  of  Mademoiselle  Grenier  de 
Breda  sur  le  Rhin,*'  both  signed  J.  T.,  Sep., 
1786,''  are  charming  and  spirited.  Upon  this 
trip  he  met  the  Cosways.  Richard  Cosway 
was  in  Paris,  painting  miniatures  of  the 
Duchess  of  Orleans  and  her  children,  and 
here,  says  Colonel  Trumbull,  ''commenced 
Mr.  Jefferson's  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Cos- 
way,  of  whom  respectful  mention  is  made  in 
his  published  correspondence.*' 

Mrs.  Cosway  was  the  daughter  of  an  inn- 
keeper in  Leghorn,  and  sister  to  George  Had- 
field,  who  came  to  the  United  States  to  assist 

no 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


in  the  erection  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington. 
Talented  as  well  as  beautiful,  Mrs.  Cosway 
was  an  accomplished  musician  and  an  artist 
of  considerable  ability.  Her  miniatures  were 
among  the  loveliest  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy,  says  Cunningham,  and  her  portrait 
of  the  Duchess  of  Devonshire,  painted  in  the 
character  of  Spenser's  Cynthia,  made  a  stir 
equal  to  that  produced  by  her  husband's  work. 
He  adds  that  one-half  of  the  carriages  which 
stopped  at  their  door  contained  sitters  am- 
bitious of  the  honours  of  her  pencil.  The 
painter,  however,  was  too  proud  a  man  to 
permit  his  wife — much  as  he  admired  her  tal- 
ents— to  paint  professionally;  this,  no  doubt, 
was  in  favour  of  domestic  happiness,  but  much 
against  her  success  in  art." 

After  his  return  to  America  in  1789,  Colonel 
Trumbull  painted  some  large  canvases  repre- 
senting important  events  in  the  history  of  the 
Revolution,  and  a  number  of  portraits  and 
miniatures.  Of  his  full-length  portrait  of 
Washington,  painted  in  Philadelphia  in  1792, 
and  now  in  the  gallery  of  Yale  College,  the 
artist  said  himself:  ''I  undertook  it  con  a7nore 
(as  the  commission  was  unlimited),  meaning 
to  give  his  military  character  in  the  most 
sublime  moment  of  its  exertion,  the  evening 
previous  to  the  battle  of  Princeton,  when, 
viewing  the  vast  superiority  of  his  approach- 
ing enemy,  and  the  impossibility  of  again 
crossing  the  Delaware  or  retreating  down  the 
river,  he  conceives  the  plan  of  returning  by  a 

III 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


night  march  into  the  country  from  which  he 
had  just  been  driven,  thus  cutting  off  the 
enemy's  communication  and  destroying  his 
depot  of  stores  and  provisions  at  Brunswick. 
I  told  the  President  my  object ;  he  entered 
into  it  warmly,  and,  as  the  work  advanced, 
we  talked  of  the  scene,  its  dangers,  its  almost 
desperation.  He  looked  the  scene  again,  and 
I  happily  transferred  to  the  canvas  the  lofty 
expression  of  his  animated  countenance,  the 
high  resolve  to  conquer  or  to  perish.  The 
result  was,  in  my  own  opinion,  eminently  suc- 
cessful, and  the  General  was  satisfied.'* 

Colonel  Trumbull's  expressions  with  regard 
to  this  picture  give  the  key-note  to  his  success 
in  his  art,  a  thorough  understanding  and  sym- 
pathy with  his  subject,  which  resulted  in  very 
strong  and  spirited  portraits. 

As  a  rule,  Trumbull  was  happier  in  his  por- 
traits of  men  than  in  those  of  women,  although 
his  miniatures  of  his  niece,  Faith  Trumbull, 
and  of  the  Misses  Sophia  and  Margaret  Chew, 
of  Philadelphia,  possess  much  girlish  grace  and 
charm. 

Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell,  of  Hartford,  has  left 
the  following  description  of  Faith  Trumbull  as 
she  appeared  to  him,  a  short  time  before  her 
miniature  was  painted  :  Miss  Trumbull  made 
us  happy  an  hour  or  so  with  her  company. 
Her  person  is  elegant,  though  small ;  her 
countenance  agreeably  expressive,  and  what 
is  generally  called  handsome.  Her  first  ap- 
pearance is  much  in  her  favor.    I  will  wait 

112 


Major-General  Nathanael  Greene 
By  John  Trumbull 
Page  113 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


till  I  see  her  again  before  I  say  anything  more 
about  her.  .  .  .  We  walked,  or  rather  waded, 
over  to  Colonel  Trumbull's,  and  sat  and 
chatted  an  hour  with  him  ;  Mrs.  Trumbull 
and  Faithy  all  agreeable,  the  former  peculiarly 
so,  and  the  appearance  of  the  latter,  though 
reserved,  such  as  inspires  you  with  a  desire 
of  becoming  intimately  acquainted.'' 

Miss  Trumbull  did  not  marry  this  young 
gentleman,  upon  whom  her  charms  made  so 
strong  an  impression.  She  later  became  the 
wife  of  Daniel  Wadsworth,  of  Hartford,  a 
son  of  Colonel  Jeremiah  Wadsworth,  who 
was  commissary-general  for  the  Continental 
Army. 

Most  of  the  Trumbull  miniatures  are  not 
painted  upon  ivory,  but  are  veritably  portraits 
in  little,"  as  they  are  small  heads  in  oil  painted 
upon  wood  or  canvas.  The  fullest  collection 
of  these  portraits  is  in  the  New  Haven  gal- 
lery, where  are  miniatures  of  General  Philip 
Schuyler  and  his  daughter,  Cornelia ;  of  Ralph 
Izard,  United  States  Senator  from  South  Caro- 
lina; of  Major-General  John  Cocke,  of  South 
Carolina,  and  of  General  Nathanael  Greene, 
whose  strong,  handsome  face  must  have  de- 
lighted the  artist  who  painted  it.  Among  these 
miniatures  are  those  of  Sophia  and  Harriet 
Chew,  daughters  of  Chief-Justice  Benjamin 
Chew,  and  of  Mary  Julia  Seymour,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Seymour,  first  Mayor  of  Hartford. 
These  portraits  in  miniature  were  all  painted 
between  1790  and  1794.    Those  of  the  Misses 

8  113 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Chew  were  doubtless  executed  when  Colonel 
Trumbull  was  in  Philadelphia  in  1792  painting 
the  full-length  portrait  of  Washington.  About 
the  same  time  miniatures  were  executed  of 
Rufus  King,  of  Colonel  Grimke,  of  Governor 
Mifflin,  of  John  Jay,  of  Oliver  Ellsworth,  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Morris,  and  of  Major 
William  Jackson,  the  handsome  young  secre- 
tary of  President  Washington,  who  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  Willing,  of  Philadelphia.  This 
latter  portrait,  which  belongs  to  the  Historical 
Society  of  Pennsylvania,  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  examples  of  TrumbulFs  small  work. 
Upon  his  portraiture,  large  and  small,  he  im- 
pressed himself  so  strongly  that  without  the 
signature,  which  was  generally  omitted,  he 
who  runs  may  read,  which  makes  it  more  re- 
markable that  of  all  the  artists  of  the  period 
none  have  had  more  counterfeit  work  attributed 
to  them  than  Trumbull. 

By  contemporaries  Colonel  Trumbull  is  de- 
scribed as  a  man  of  courtly,  old-school  polite- 
ness, and  at  the  same  time  of  such  freedom 
and  candor  that  he  made  many  enemies  by  his 
plain  speaking.  One  young  artist,  however, 
to  whom  he  made  the  unflattering  remark  that 
he  had  better  have  been  a  shoemaker  than  a 
painter,  took  the  observation  in  such  good  part 
that  he  not  only  agreed  with  Colonel  Trum- 
bull, but  afterwards  admitted  that  he  would 
have  been  better  off  had  he  chosen  that  trade. 
A  familiar  expression  attributed  to  Trumbull 
is  that  the  picture-framer  makes  more  than  the 

114 


Mrs.  John  Trumbull 
By  Elkanah  Tisdale 
Page  115 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


painter,  which  was  certainly  true  with  regard 
to  some  of  the  richly  framed  miniatures  of  the 
last  century. 

Mrs.  John  Trumbull  was  an  English  lady 
who  is  described  as  very  beautiful.  Her  hus- 
band was  devotedly  attached  to  her,  and  at  the 
time  of  her  death  in  1824  wrote  of  her  who 
had  been  his  beloved  companion  for  twenty- 
four  years,  She  was  the  perfect  personifica- 
tion of  truth  and  sincerity — wise  to  counsel, 
kind  to  console — by  far  the  more  important 
and  better  moral  half  of  me,  and  withal,  beau- 
tiful beyond  the  usual  beauty  of  women  !" 

Colonel  Trumbull  survived  his  wife  nineteen 
years,  during  which  time  he  kept  her  portrait, 
closely  veiled,  at  the  head  of  his  bed.  Another 
portrait  of  Mrs.  Trumbull  is  a  miniature  painted 
in  middle  life  by  Elkanah  Tisdale,  of  Leba- 
non. Tisdale  was  an  eccentric  genius,  the  son 
of  a  wagon-maker,  who,  with  no  instruction  in 
art  except  what  he  may  have  gathered  from 
studying  the  works  of  his  distinguished  towns- 
man, John  Trumbull,  executed  a  number  of 
exquisite  miniatures.  One  of  these  portraits 
was  of  General  Knox,  in  which  the  colors, 
especially  the  flesh  tints,  are  remarkably  fine, 
as  they  are  in  the  miniature  of  Mrs.  John 
Trumbull.  Tisdale  also  painted  a  miniature 
of  Faith  Trumbull  after  her  marriage  to  Daniel 
Wadsworth. 

An  eccentric  genius  belonging  to  this  period 
was  Patience  Wright,  a  New  Jersey  Quakeress, 
who  excelled  in  modelling  heads  and  faces  in 

115 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


wax.  Although  not  a  miniature  painter,  Mrs. 
Wright  was  a  true  artist,  and  is  a  figure  far  too 
interesting  to  be  passed  over  without  notice. 

Patience  Wright's  first  attempts  at  model- 
ling were  with  putty  and  bread,  after  which 
she  made  likenesses  in  wax,  which  were  so 
much  admired  that  she  went  to  London  to  try 
her  fortune.  Here  she  executed  likenesses  of 
the  King  and  Queen,  Lord  Chatham,  Wilkes, 
Barre,  and  other  notable  personages.  Her 
work  was  considered  so  good  that  Mrs. 
Wright  was  spoken  of  in  a  London  magazine 
for  1775  as  *'the  Promethean  Modeller.*' 

Her  studio  being  the  resort  of  many  prom- 
inent persons,  Mrs.  Wright  was  in  a  position 
to  hear  much  of  the  political  talk  of  the  day, 
and  often  took  advantage  of  her  opportunities 
to  give  important  information  to  Dr.  Franklin. 
This  fact,  taken  in  connection  with  her  great 
freedom  of  speech,  sometimes  placed  her  in 
dangerous  situations.  Upon  one  occasion  she 
undertook  to  tell  Lord  Bute  that  it  was  im- 
possible for  the  English  to  conquer  America. 
Mr.  West,  who  overheard  the  remark,  begged 
the  patriotic  lady  to  be  more  careful,  assuring 
her  that  *'her  petticoats  would  not  protect 
her." 

Elkanah  Watson,  who  met  Mrs.  Wright  in 
Paris  in  1779,  thus  described  her : 

I  came  oddly  in  contact  with  the  eccentric 
Mrs.  Wright  on  my  arrival  at  Paris,  from 
Nantes.  Giving  orders,  from  the  balcony  of 
the  Hotel  d'York,  to  my  English  servant,  I 

ii5 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


was  assailed  by  a  powerful  female  voice,  crying 
out  from  an  upper  story,  *  Who  are  you  ?  An 
American,  I  hope!'  *  Yes,  Madam,'  I  replied, 
*  and  who  are  you  ?'  In  two  minutes  she  came 
blustering  down  stairs  with  the  familiarity  of 
an  old  acquaintance.  We  soon  were  on  the 
most  excellent  terms.  I  discovered  that  she 
was  in  the  habit  of  daily  intercourse  with 
Franklin,  and  was  visited  by  all  the  respect- 
able Americans  in  Paris.  .  .  . 

*'With  a  head  of  wax  upon  her  lap,  she 
would  mould  the  most  accurate  likenesses  by 
the  mere  force  of  a  retentive  recollection  of  the 
traits  and  lines  of  the  countenance  ;  she  would 
form  her  likenesses  by  manipulating  the  wax 
with  her  thumb  and  finger.  Whilst  thus  en- 
gaged, her  strong  mind  poured  forth  an  uninter- 
rupted torrent  of  wild  thought  and  anecdotes 
and  reminiscences  of  men  and  events.  .  . 

The  King  and  Queen  often  visited  her 
rooms ;  they  would  induce  her  to  work  upon 
her  heads  regardless  of  their  presence.  She 
would  sometimes,  as  if  forgetting  herself, 
address  them  as  George  and  Charlotte.  This 
circumstance  was  evidently  a  source  of  great 
satisfaction  to  Mrs.  Wright,  as  she  boasted 
of  it  to  Mr.  Watson  and  other  persons. 

Many  interesting  stories  are  related  of  Mrs. 
Wright's  adventures  while  travelling  on  the 
Continent  with  her  wax  figures.  One  evening, 
while  on  her  way  to  Passy  to  compare  her  wax 
head  of  Dr.  Franklin  with  the  original,  she  was 
stopped  at  the  barrier  to  be  searched  for  con- 

117 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


traband  goods.  This  proceeding  was  violently- 
opposed  by  the  free-born  American,  and  in  the 
scuffle  that  ensued  the  head  of  a  dead  man, 
as  it  appeared,  was  discovered  in  her  arms, 
wrapped  in  a  napkin.  The  officials,  supposing 
that  they  had  encountered  a  lunatic,  deter- 
mined to  convey  the  poor  lady  to  the  police 
station,  when  she  fortunately  succeeded  in 
commanding  sufficient  French  to  communicate 
to  them  her  desire  to  be  taken  to  the  Hotel 
d'York.  Here  Mr.  Watson  came  to  her  rescue, 
and  Mrs.  Wright  was  permitted  to  go  her  way 
in  peace,  with  her  wax  head,  which  she  placed 
beside  that  of  the  original,  declaring  that  they 
were  *'twin  brothers.'* 

An  excellent  example  of  Mrs.  Wright's 
smaller  portraiture  is  a  wax  head  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin in  high  relief,  which  is  now  in  the  pos- 
session of  Mr.  Charles  Bradford,  of  West 
Chester,  Pennsylvania. 

Joseph  Wright,  a  son  of  Mrs.  Patience 
Wright,  painted  several  portraits  of  Washing- 
ton, and  executed  a  small  wax  head  in  low 
relief.  Of  his  attempt  to  make  a  plaster  cast 
of  the  face  of  the  General,  Elkanah  Watson 
has  left  an  amusing  description  in  his  recollec- 
tions. It  is  probably  of  this  bust  that  Wash- 
ington wrote  to  Mrs.  Wright  in  1785,  in  the 
following  courtly  phrase:  **If  the  bust  which 
your  son  has  modelled  of  me  should  reach 
your  hands  and  afford  your  celebrated  genius 
any  employment  that  can  amuse  Mrs.  Wright, 
it  must  be  an  honor  done  to  me.*' 

118 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  IV.  END-OF-THE-CENTURY 
ARTISTS 

THE  star  of  another  artist,  which  was 
destined  to  outshine  those  of  both 
Peale  and  Trumbull  in  the  field 
of  individual  portraiture,  reached  its  zenith 
somewhat  later  than  that  of  Peale,  although 
contemporaneous  with  that  of  Trumbull.  A 
Rhode  Island  boy,  who  had  had  few  ad- 
vantages for  instruction  in  art  in  his  native 
State,  Gilbert  Charles  Stuart  owed  his  first 
opportunity  for  study  abroad  to  Cosmo  Alex- 
ander, who  gave  him  some  lessons  in  New- 
port, and  later  took  him  to  Edinburgh  with 
him.  Cosmo  Alexander  was  a  Scotch  artist, 
who,  although,  according  to  the  parlance  of 
the  day,  above  the  mere  trade  of  painting,'' 
condescended  to  paint  portraits  of  the  Hunters, 
Keiths,  Fergusons,  Grants,  Hamiltons,  and 
other  Rhode  Island  families.  Before  returning 
home,  Mr.  Alexander  visited  South  Carolina, 
taking  young  Stuart  with  him. 

Gilbert  Stuart,  who  seems  to  have  relin- 
quished the  name  of  Charles  early  in  his 
career,  lost  his  kind  friend  and  patron  soon 
after  his  arrival  in  Scotland.  A  second  visit 
to  the  Old  World  was  made  in  1777.  His  in- 
troduction to  Benjamin  West  was  thus  related 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Wharton,  of  Philadelphia,  to 

119 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Thomas  Sully,  the  artist:  '*West  was  dining 
with  some  friends,  when  a  servant  told  him 
that  some  one  wished  to  see  him.  He  made 
answer,  *I  am  engaged;'  but  added,  after  a 
pause,  *  Who  is  he  ?'  'I  don't  know,  sir :  he 
says  he  is  from  America.'  Thereupon  one  of 
the  guests,  Mr.  Wharton,  said,  *  I  will  go  and 
see  who  it  is.'  Wharton  was  from  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  intimate  with  West's  family.* 
He  went  out  and  found  a  handsome  youth, 
dressed  in  a  fashionable  green  coat.  With 
him  he  talked  for  some  time,  and,  finding  that 
he  was  a  nephew  of  Joseph  Anthony,  one  of 
the  most  prominent  merchants  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  who  happened  to  be  a  friend  of  Mr. 
Wharton,  he  at  once  told  Mr.  West  that  he 
was  well  connected.  Hearing  this,  West  came 
out  and  received  his  visitor  cordially.  Stuart 
told  him  of  his  long  desire  to  see  him  and  his 
wish  to  make  further  progress  in  his  calling; 
to  all  which  West  listened  with  kindness  and 
attention.  At  parting,  he  requested  Stuart 
to  bring  him  something  that  he  had  painted. 
This  Stuart  did  gladly.  In  a  few  days  he  com- 
menced his  studies  with  West,  and  shortly 
after,  in  the  summer  of  1777,  he  was  domiciled 


^  This  was  Joseph  Wharton,  Junior,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
was  in  London  at  this  time.  Over  the  signature  of  "  Wig- 
wam," he  wrote  a  number  of  letters  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Journal.  These  letters  were  strongly  in  favor  of  the  free- 
dom of  the  Colonies,  and  the  identity  of  the  writer  being 
discovered,  he  was  obliged  to  escape  to  France,  whence 
he  returned  to  America. 

120 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


in  his  family.  At  that  time  he  was  two  and 
twenty  years  of  age." 

Gilbert  Stuart  was  established  in  London  as 
a  portrait  painter  prior  to  1785.  Benjamin 
West  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  sat  to  him 
for  their  portraits,  which  brought  Stuart  into 
notice,  and,  having  by  his  good  work  gained 
a  reputation,  he  demanded  and  received  a 
price  for  his  pictures  exceeded  only  by  the 
sums  paid  to  Sir  Joshua  and  Gainsborough. 

Mr.  George  C.  Mason,  in  his  life  of  Gilbert 
Stuart,  relates  many  anecdotes  of  this  brilliant 
and  whimsical  genius,  who  possessed  con- 
siderable musical  and  dramatic  talent,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  great  ability  as  an  artist. 

Mr.  Dunlap  says  that  when  Mr.  Longacre  and 
Mr.  Neagle,*two  Philadelphia  artists,  were  vis- 
iting Stuart,  one  of  them  asked  him  for  a  pinch 
of  snuff  from  an  ample  box  out  of  which  he  was 
profusely  supplying  his  own  nostrils.  I  will 
give  it  to  you,"  said  Stuart,  *'but  I  advise  you 
not  to  take  it.  Snuff-taking  is  a  pernicious,  vile, 
dirty  habit,  and,  like  all  bad  habits,  to  be  care- 
fully avoided."  ''Your  practice  contradicts 
your  precept,  Mr.  Stuart."      Sir,  I  can't  help 


*  This  was  John  Neagle,  who  went  to  Boston  to  study 
with  Gilbert  Stuart.  He  afterwards  devoted  himself  to  por- 
trait painting  in  Philadelphia,  and  married  into  the  Sully 
family.  James  B.  Longacre  is  better  known  as  an  en- 
graver than  as  an  artist,  although  a  number  of  his  en- 
gravings were  made  from  his  own  portraits  from  life.  Mr. 
Longacre  began  the  well-known  publication  called  The 
National  Portrait  Gallery," 

121 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


it.  Shall  I  tell  you  a  story  ?  I  happened  to 
be  travelling  in  a  dark  night,  when  coachee 
contrived  to  overturn  us  all — or,  as  they  say 
in  New  York,  *  dump  us' — in  a  ditch.  We 
scrambled  up,  felt  our  legs  and  arms  to  be  con- 
vinced that  they  were  not  broken,  and,  finding 
on  examination  that  inside  and  outside  pas- 
sengers were  tolerably  whole  (on  the  whole), 
some  one  thought  of  the  poor  devil  who  was 
shut  up  with  the  baggage  in  the  basket.  He 
was  found  apparently  senseless,  and  his  neck 
twisted  awry.  One  of  the  passengers,  who 
had  heard  that  any  dislocation  might  be  rem- 
edied if  promptly  attended  to,  seized  on  the 
corpse,  with  a  determination  to  untwist  the 
man's  neck  and  set  his  head  straight  on  his 
shoulders.  Accordingly,  with  an  iron  grasp  he 
clutched  him  by  the  head  and  began  pulling 
and  twisting  by  main  force.  He  appeared  to 
have  succeeded  miraculously  in  restoring  life, 
for  the  dead  man  no  sooner  experienced  the 
first  wrench,  than  he  roared  vociferously,  *  Let 
me  alone  !  let  me  alone  !  I'm  not  hurt ! — I  was 
born  so!'  Gentlemen,"  added  Stuart,  I  was 
born  so;  and" — taking  an  enormous  pinch  of 
snuff — I  was  born  in  a  snuff-mill."  * 

The  charm  of  Stuart's  portraits  is  indescrib- 
able ;  it  is  something  more  than  excellence  of 
drawing,  color,  composition,  and  modelling ;  it 
is  atmosphere,  expression,  soul.    Stuart  may 


*  This  was  literally  true,  as  Gilbert  Stuart,  Senior,  a 
Scotchman,  erected  the  first  snuff-mill  in  New  England. 

122 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


not  have  read  the  characteristics  of  his  sitter 
more  clearly  than  Trumbull,  but  his  technique 
was  so  much  finer,  brush  and  palette  were  so 
perfectly  the  servants  of  his  will,  that  individu- 
alities of  character  and  expression  appear  upon 
his  canvases  with  a  force  and  grace  all  their 
own.  The  strength  and  dignity  of  General 
Washington  lost  nothing  at  the  hands  of 
Stuart ;  but  with  these  characteristics  he  so 
harmoniously  blended  the  humanity  and  large 
kindliness  of  nature  that  were  equally  marked 
traits  of  the  great  man,  that  when  we  look  at 
his  portraits  we  think  of  the  Father  of  his 
Country"  before  we  recognize  the  leader  of  her 
armies. 

A  beautiful  woman  upon  Stuart's  canvas 
may  appear  more  beautiful  than  the  original, 
because  the  artist  possessed  the  power  to 
grasp  the  possibilities  of  the  face  before  him 
and  to  bring  out  its  spiritual  elements.  Stuart's 
admonition  to  his  pupils  was,  You  may  ele- 
vate your  mind  as  much  as  you  can,  but  while 
you  have  nature  before  you  as  a  model,  paint 
what  you  see  and  look  with  your  own  eyes." 

That  Stuart — gay,  pleasure-loving,  erratic, 
and  improvident — should  have  possessed  the 
power  of  fathoming  thoughts  that  lie  deeper 
than  all  knowledge,  is  one  of  the  many  anoma- 
lies that  genius  has  presented  to  the  world. 

The  ideality  in  composition  which  charac- 
terizes the  best  of  Stuart's  paintings  is  most 
noticeable  in  the  unfinished  portraits  of  the 
General  and  Mrs.  Washington,  now  at  the 

123 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Boston  Athenaeum ;  in  that  of  Mrs.  Samuel 
Blodget,  of  Philadelphia ;  in  the  lovely  youth- 
ful portraits  of  Nellie  Custis  and  her  elder 
sister,  Elizabeth,  and  in  one  of  her  two  friends, 
the  young  daughters  of  Robert  Morris,  which 
is  one  of  the  most  charming  of  the  artist's 
compositions. 

Mr.  Mason,  in  his  long  list  of  Gilbert  Stuart's 
portraits,  mentions  no  miniatures,  nor  does 
his  latest  biographer  allude  to  any.  Several 
miniatures  are,  however,  attributed  to  Stuart. 
One  of  these  is  of  Captain  Joseph  Anthony, 
Junior,  of  Philadelphia,  the  son  of  Stuart's 
uncle  and  patron.  Portraits  in  oil  of  Captain 
Joseph  Anthony,  Senior,  and  his  wife  were  cer- 
tainly painted  by  Stuart,  and  the  miniature  of 
their  son  has  come  down  to  this  generation 
well  authenticated  by  the  family  which  owns 
it.*  Another  miniature  attributed  to  this  artist 
is  that  of  Lady  Liston,  wife  of  Sir  Robert 
Liston,  who  came  to  America  as  a  bride  in 
1796. 

Sir  Robert  Liston,  who  had  held  several 
diplomatic  positions  under  the  British  gov- 
ernment, was  appointed,  February  17,  1796,  to 
represent  his  country  in  the  United  States. 
Ten  days  later  he  married,  in  Glasgow,  Harriet, 
daughter  of  Nathaniel  Marchant,  of  Jamaica. 


As  many  of  Stuart's  portraits  were  copied  in  miniature 
by  Benjamin  Trott,  this  miniature  may  be  a  copy  by  Trott 
from  a  portrait  by  Gilbert  Stuart  of  his  cousin,  Joseph 
Anthony,  Junior. 

124 


Joseph  Anthony,  Junior 
Attributed  to  Gilbert  Stuart 
Page  124 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


This  is  the  tender-hearted  lady  whom  Bishop 
White  described  as  shedding  tears  at  the  fare- 
well dinner  given  to  President  Washington 
in  Philadelphia,  when  the  President  lifted  his 
glass  and  said,  bowing  to  the  company,  *'This 
is  the  last  time  I  shall  drink  your  health  as 
a  public  man."  While  in  Philadelphia,  Sir 
Robert  and  Lady  Liston  lived  on  Arch  Street, 
as  is  proved  by  a  dinner  invitation,  dated  Arch 
Street,  19  March,"  in  which  they  request  *'the 
honour  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Champlin's  company 
to  dinner  at  four  o'clock."  ' 

When  the  capital  was  removed  from  New 
York  to  Philadelphia,  James  Peale  was  well 
established  as  a  miniature  painter  in  the  latter 
city.  Here  and  in  New  York  he  painted  minia- 
tures of  many  distinguished  men  and  women 
of  the  day. 

James  Peale,  like  his  brother  Charles,  began 
life  with  a  trade,  his  being  that  of  a  carpenter 
and  cabinet-maker,  which  was  especially  con- 
venient, as  he  was  thus  able  to  make  frames 
for  his  brother's  pictures.  Charles  Willson 
Peale  encouraged  both  his  brothers  to  try  their 
hands  at  painting.  St.  George  Peale  executed 
some  portraits  in  crayon,  but  did  not  pursue 
art,  while  James  Peale  made  it  the  business  of 
his  life.  He  signed  his  miniatures  much  more 
frequently  than  Charles  Peale,  but  as  it  cannot 
be  proved  that  James  Peale  always  endorsed 
his  work,  much  confusion  exists  with  regard 
to  the  miniatures  of  these  two  brothers,  who 
were  painting  at  the  same  time.   Charles  Peale 

125 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


relinquished  most  of  his  miniature  work  to  his 
brother  about  1785,  although  he  painted  some 
portraits  in  little"  after  that  date,  as  he  speaks 
of  being  engaged  upon  miniatures  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liam de  Peyster  and  of  his  own  daughter,  An- 
gelica, while  in  New  York  in  1790.  When  in 
that  city,  some  months  after  his  marriage  to 
Miss  de  Peyster,  Peale  painted  a  miniature  of 
Mr.  Bogart,  of  which  he  says,  ''The  family 
acknowledged  themselves  pleased  with  the 
likeness,  but  expected  Mr.  Peale  to  set  it  for 
the  same  price,  saying  that  Mr.  Ramage  did 
so. 

A  certain  family  resemblance  runs  through 
the  work  of  the  two  Peales,  James  being  in- 
debted to  his  brother  Charles  for  his  early 
instruction  in  the  art  of  painting.  In  com- 
paring their  ability  in  miniature  work,  the 
portraits  of  the  elder  brother  will  be  found  to 
possess  greater  strength  than  those  of  the 
younger,  which  are  distinguished  by  a  delicacy 
of  touch  and  finish  that  rendered  James  Peale 
particularly  happy  in  his  miniatures  of  women. 
This  difference  of  style  is  especially  marked  in 
the  miniatures  of  Washington.  Charles  Will- 
son  Peale's  portraits  of  the  General,  with  the 
exception  of  the  early  miniature  of  1777,  repre- 
sent a  man  of  force  as  well  as  of  dignity,  while 
in  the  miniatures  of  James  Peale  he  appears 
as  a  benevolent  and  rather  characterless  gentle- 
man, who  might  have  taught  a  village  school 
had  he  not  been  called  upon  to  lead  an  army. 

In  some  of  his  portraits  of  men  James  Peale 
126 


Christopher  Greenup 
By  James  Peale 
Page  127 


Tench  Francis 
By  James  Peale 
Page  127 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


was  much  happier  than  in  those  of  Washing- 
ton. One  in  which  he  appears  at  his  best  is 
that  of  Mr.  Tench  Francis,  of  Philadelphia, 
which,  unlike  most  portraits  of  the  period,  is 
signed  with  the  artist's  initials  and  the  date, 
1798,  given.  The  very  handsome  gentleman 
who  appears  in  this  miniature,  with  his  hair 
powdered  and  with  a  gay  red  ribbon  around 
his  stock  and  tied  in  among  the  fine  ruffles  of 
his  shirt  front,  married  Hannah  M.  Roberts  the 
same  year  in  which  his  miniature  was  painted, 
— which  looks  as  if  it  had  been  designed  for  a 
betrothal  or  wedding  gift.  Miss  Roberts  came 
of  an  ancestry  which  included  such  good 
names  as  Moore,  Preston,  and  Liloyd,  of  Mary- 
land. A  miniature  painted  by  James  Peale, 
and  in  somewhat  the  same  style  as  that  of  Mr. 
Francis,  is  one  of  John  Steele,  of  North  Caro- 
lina, who  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of 
his  own  State,  served  in  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1787,  and  was  for  several  years 
Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  under  Washing- 
ton. 

Another  distinguished  man  whose  miniature 
was  painted  by  James  Peale  was  Christopher 
Greenup,  who  did  good  service  during  the  War 
of  the  Revolution  and  in  the  settlement  of 
the  subsequent  difficulties  between  the  Indians 
and  the  pioneer  settlers  in  the  new  State  of 
Kentucky.  Christopher  Greenup  and  Alex- 
ander D.  Orr  were  the  first  representatives  of 
that  State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 
Mr.  Greenup  held  many  important  positions  in 

127 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Kentucky,  of  which  he  was  elected  Governor 
in  1802. 

Of  Mrs.  James  Madison,  who  was  painted 
in  early  and  later  years  by  the  most  distin- 
guished artists  of  her  time,  one  of  the  most 
attractive  portraits  is  a  miniature  by  James 
Peale,  dated  1794.  This  miniature,  which  was 
painted  during  the  last  months  of  the  brief 
widowhood  of  Dolly  Payne,  or  soon  after  her 
marriage  to  James  Madison,  represents  the 
charming  young  face  framed  in  by  a  dainty 
shirred  cap,  with  a  delicate  white  kerchief 
discreetly  folded  over  her  plump  shoulders, 
half  concealing,  it  may  be,  the  very  mulberry 
satin  in  which  she  captivated  *'the  great  little 
Madison/* 

Of  this  happy  couple  Washington  Irving 
wrote  from  the  capital,  during  the  administra- 
tion of  James  Madison  :  ''I  emerged  from  dirt 
and  darkness  into  the  blazing  splendor  of  Mrs, 
Madison's  drawing-room.  Here  I  was  most 
graciously  received;  found  a  crowded  collec- 
tion of  great  and  little  men,  of  ugly  old  women 
and  beautiful  young  ones,  and  in  ten  minutes 
was  hand  and  glove  with  half  the  people  in  the 
assemblage.  Mrs.  Madison  is  a  fine,  portly, 
buxom  dame,  who  has  a  smile  and  a  pleasant 
word  for  everybody.  Her  sisters,  Mrs.  Cutts 
and  Mrs.  Washington,  are  like  two  merry 
wives  of  Windsor ;  but  as  to  Jemmy  Madison 
— oh,  poor  Jemmy  ! — he  is  but  a  withered  little 
apple-john.'* 

Miniatures  of  James  Monroe  and  his  wife 

128 


Reverend  John  Breckinridge 
By  John  Sartain 
Page  225 


James  Monroe 
By  Sene 
Page  129 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


were  painted,  while  they  were  in  Paris  in 
1794,  by  Sene.  If,  as  has  been  stated  on  the 
authority  of  Eugene  Muntz,  librarian  of  the 
Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts,  little  is  known  of  the 
artist  Sene,  he  has  not  been  served  according 
to  his  deserts,  as  these  portraits  of  the  great 
American  statesman  and  his  wife  would  alone 
establish  his  claim  to  distinguished  ability  as  a 
miniaturist.  The  portrait  of  James  Monroe, 
which  is  exquisite  in  composition  and  color,  is 
owned  by  the  widow  of  his  grandson,  Mrs. 
Gouverneur,  of  Washington,  D.  C,  while 
the  graceful  and  charming  miniature  of  Mrs. 
Monroe  (Elizabeth  Kortright)  belongs  to  Mr. 
Charles  Wilmer,  of  Baltimore. 

A  large  portrait  of  Mrs.  Monroe  was  painted 
by  Benjamin  West  when  she  was  in  London 
in  1796.  This  portrait,  which  is  described  as 
very  beautiful,  is  signed  and  dated  by  the 
artist.  It  is  also  owned  by  Mrs.  Monroe's 
granddaughter,  Mrs.  Gouverneur. 

Many  foreign  artists  came  to  America  during 
the  later  years  of  the  last  century.  Among 
these  were  Archibald  and  Alexander  Robertson, 
natives  of  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  who  painted 
many  portraits  in  little,'*  especially  in  and 
around  New  York. 

Archibald  Robertson,  the  elder  brother,  had 
studied  at  the  Royal  Academy  under  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds,  and  had  earlier  than  that  received 
instruction  from  a  deaf  mute.  Miss  Emily 
Robertson,  a  niece  of  the  artist,  mentions  this 
fact,  and  says  that  the  instructor  was  probably 

9  129 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Charles  Sheriff,  a  well-known  deaf  and  dumb 
miniature  painter. 

Of  Alexander  Robertson's  coming  to  Amer- 
ica his  niece  says:  He  was  invited  to  visit 
New  York  by  Dr.  Kemp,  of  Columbia  College, 
Chancellor  Livingston,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Bard, 
through  the  venerable  Dr.  Gordon,  of  King's 
College,  Old  Aberdeen.  The  Earl  of  Buchan, 
hearing  of  his  intended  departure,  requested 
an  interview  at  Edinburgh,  and  committed  to 
his  care  a  small  oak  box,  four  inches  long,  three 
broad,  and  two  deep,  and  an  eighth  of  an  inch 
thick,  made  of  six  pieces  of  the  heart  of  the 
oak-tree  that  sheltered  Sir  William  Wallace 
after  the  battle  of  Falkirk.  This  box  the  Earl 
wished  to  present  to  General  Washington,  with 
the  request  for  his  portrait  from  the  pencil  of 
Mr.  Robertson.'' 

The  Wallace  box  had  an  elegant  silver  bind- 
ing, and  the  lid,  opening  upon  hinges  one-third 
down  the  side,  had  a  silver  plate  inside,  in- 
scribed: Presented  by  the  Goldsmiths  of 
Edinburgh  to  David  Stuart  Erskine,  Earl  of 
Buchan,  with  the  freedom  of  their  Corporation, 
by  their  Deacon,  1791/' 

On  the  death  of  Washington,  the  box  was 
returned  to  the  Earl  of  Buchan,  or  his  heirs, 
according  to  a  clause  in  the  President's  will. 

Of  the  painting  of  Robertson's  portrait  for 
the  Earl  of  Buchan,  Miss  Johnston^  writes: 


*  "  Original  Portraits  of  Washington,'*  by  Elizabeth 
Bryant  Johnston,  p.  59. 

130 


Colonel  Tobias  Lear 
Page  131 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


**When  Robertson  was  ready  to  execute  his 
commission  for  the  Earl,  he  spent  six  weeks 
at  the  executive  mansion.  He  deemed  it  ad- 
visable (it  having  been  left  to  his  own  discre- 
tion) to  make  his  first  attempt  in  miniature  on 
ivory  and  in  water  colors.  At  the  same  time 
he  painted  a  miniature  of  Mrs.  Washington. 
These  he  retained,  leaving  them  *  to  remain  in 
his  family  as  an  heirloom,  and  memorial  of 
his  veneration  for  the  great  and  successful 
champion  of  American  liberty.'  They  have 
descended  to  his  granddaughters,  Mrs.  C.  W. 
Darling,  of  Utica,  New  York,  and  Mrs.  S.  M. 
Mygatt,  of  New  York  City,  and  are  remarkable 
for  their  beauty  and  finish  as  works  of  art,  and 
are  considered  as  among  the  finest  efforts  of 
this  distinguished  artist.  After  succeeding  so 
happily  in  miniature,  Robertson  painted  a  large 
portrait  in  oil,  corresponding  in  size  to  those 
of  a  collection  of  portraits  of  the  most  cele- 
brated characters  in  liberal  principles  and  in 
useful  literature,  in  the  possession  of  Lord 
Buchan,  at  Dryburgh  Abbey.  When  finished, 
the  portrait  received  Washington's  approval, 
and  was  sent  to  Scotland  in  April,  1792,  in  care 
of  Colonel  Lear,  being  welcomed  with  cordial 
approbation  by  Lord  Buchan." 

A  miniature  portrait  of  Colonel  Tobias  Lear, 
long  the  private  secretary  and  intimate  friend 
of  General  Washington,  was  painted  about  this 
time.  Whether  it  was  executed  in  this  country 
or  during  Colonel  Lear's  visit  to  the  Old  World, 
of  which  Miss  Johnston  speaks,  is  not  known. 

131 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Archibald  Robertson,  who  had  shown  great 
reluctance  at  the  thought  of  residing  in  such 
a  barbarous  country  as  the  United  States," 
was  so  well  pleased  with  his  success  in  the 
home  of  the  red  man  that  he  soon  sent  for  a 
younger  brother  to  join  him. 

Alexander  Robertson  had  had  the  benefit  of 
some  instruction  in  London,  which  fact  was 
duly  set  forth  in  an  elaborate  card  that  ap- 
peared in  one  of  the  New  York  journals,  in 
which  it  was  announced  that  Archibald 
Robertson,  Limner,'*  and  Alexander  Robert- 
son, his  brother,  would  give  instruction  in 
painting  and  drawing  at  the  Columbian  Acad- 
emy, No.  89  William  Street,  New  York.* 

A  third  brother,  Andrew,  who  became  far  the 
best  miniature  painter  of  the  family,  remained 
at  home,  where,  through  his  own  exertions  and 
the  generosity  of  his  brothers,  he  was  able  to 
have  lessons  from  good  masters.  It  was  for 
the  benefit  of  this  younger  brother  that  Archi- 
bald Robertson  wrote  his  treatise  upon  the  art 


*  Walter  Robertson,  an  Irish  artist,  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1793,  in  the  same  ship  with  Gilbert  Stuart.  He 
seems  to  have  borne  no  relation  to  the  brothers  Archibald 
and  Alexander  Robertson.  While  in  Philadelphia  Walter 
Robertson  painted  a  miniature  portrait  of  Washington, 
which  Robert  Field,  himself  a  miniature  painter,  pronounced 
"  a  good  likeness  and  as  fine  a  piece  of  painting  as  I  ever 
saw."  This  portrait,  which,  said  Mr.  Baker,  is  known  to  us 
only  through  the  engraving  by  Field,  is  surrounded  by  an 
elaborate  decoration  in  scroll  work  by  Barralet.  Walter  Rob- 
ertson afterwards  went  to  the  East  Indies,  where  he  died. 

132 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  miniature  painting,  which  was  extensively 
circulated  in  the  last  century  and  became  the 
vade  mecum  of  some  American  miniaturists  of 
the  period. 

A  painter  in  little*'  whose  work  is  to  be 
found  in  many  old  families,  North  and  South, 
was  John  Ramage.  This  Irish  artist  was 
painting  miniatures  in  Boston  before  the  Revo- 
lution, where  he  afterwards  joined  the  Royal 
Irish  Volunteers.  Mr.  Ramage  left  Boston 
with  the  British  army,  and  later  established 
himself  on  William  Street,  New  York,  where, 
says  Mr.  Dunlap,  **he  continued  to  be  the  best 
artist  in  his  branch  for  many  years  after.  Mr. 
Ramage  painted  in  crayons  or  pastile,  the  size 
of  life.  His  miniatures  were  in  the  line  style, 
as  opposed  to  the  dotted.  .  .  .  Mr.  Ramage 
was  a  handsome  man  of  the  middle  size,  with 
an  intelligent  countenance  and  lively  eye.  He 
dressed  fashionably  and,  according  to  the  time, 
beauishly.  A  scarlet  coat  with  mother-of-pearl 
buttons,  a  white  silk  waistcoat  embroidered 
with  colored  flowers,  black  satin  breeches  and 
paste  knee-buckles,  white  silk  stockings,  large 
silver  buckles  in  his  shoes,  a  small  cocked 
hat  covering  the  upper  portion  of  his  well- 
powdered  locks,  leaving  the  curls  at  the  ears 
displayed,  a  gold-headed  cane  and  gold  snuff- 
box, completed  his  costume.'' 

That  Mr.  Ramage  was  in  New  York  in  the 
early  months  of  the  first  administration  is 
proved  by  an  entry  in  the  diary  of  the  Presi- 
dent; for,  like  all  painters  of  the  time,  the 

133 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


goal  of  his  desire  was  to  produce  a  portrait  of 
Washington : 

^'Saturday  the  jrd  [of  October,  lySp"]. — Sat  for 
Mr.  Ramage  near  two  hours  to-day,  who  was 
drawing  a  miniature  picture  of  me  for  Mrs. 
Washington.'*  * 

Ramage  painted  not  only  many  distinguished 
soldiers  and  statesmen  of  the  time,  but  many 
of  the  belles  and  beauties  of  the  Republican 
Court.  Elbridge  Gerry  and  his  handsome  wife, 
born  Ann  Thompson  ;  her  sister,  Mrs.  Isaac 
Coles ;  and  William  Few,  United  States  Sen- 
ator from  Georgia,  and  his  wife,  were  all  painted 
in  miniature  by  this  artist. 

Some  of  these  miniatures,  in  addition  to  their 
artistic  attractions,  possess  considerable  his- 
torical interest,  as  those  of  Alexander  Macomb 
and  his  beautiful  wife,  Catharine  Navarre. 
This  lovely  lady,  who  was  one  of  the  belles 
of  the  inauguration  ball  in  1789,  derived  her 
name  from  a  remote  ancestress,  Catharine 
de  Navarre,  the  mother  of  Jeanne  d'Albret. 
Robert  Navarre,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Alexander 
Macomb,  was  directly  descended  from  An- 
toine  de  Bourbon,  Duke  of  Vendome  and 
King  of  Navarre.  Robert  Navarre  was  sent 
to  Fort  Pontchartrain  in  1730  as  sub-intendant 
and  royal  notary  by  the  French  government, 
and  here  he  married  Mary  Liootman,  whose 
grandfather,  Willibrord  Lootman,  a  Hollander, 


*  This  miniature  is  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Moses  S. 
Beach,  of  Peekskill,  New  York. 

134 


Mrs.  Alexander  Macomb 
By  John  Raniage 
Page  134 


General  John  J.  Van  Rensselaer 
By  John  Ramage 
Page  T36 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


went  to  Canada  in  1665  as  secretary,  coun- 
cillor, and  general  agent  of  the  East  India 
Company.*  Catharine  Navarre,  the  seventh 
child  of  this  marriage,  became  the  wife  of 
Alexander  Macomb,  son  of  John  Macomb. 
Although  of  Scotch  descent,  the  Macombs,  or 
MacCoombies,  had  settled  in  County  Antrim, 
Ireland,  whence  John  Macomb  came  to  Albany 
in  1755,  bringing  with  him  two  sons,  William 
and  Alexander.  Catharine  Navarre  Macomb 
died  in  November,  1789,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
leaving  nine  children.  One  son  was  the  dis- 
tinguished Major-General  Macomb ;  another 
son,  John,  married  Christina  Livingston ;  a 
daughter,  Jane,  married  the  Honorable  Robert 
Kennedy,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Cassilis,  of  Ayr- 
shire, Scotland ;  and  Ann  Macomb  married 
William  Wilson,  whose  daughter,  Mrs.  Daniel 
L.  Trumbull,  owns  the  lovely  miniature  of  her 
ancestress,  Catharine  Navarre  Macomb. 

After  his  wife's  death,  Mr.  Macomb  rented 
his  house  on  Broadway  to  President  Washing- 
ton. He  afterwards  married  Janet  Marshall, 
whose  portrait,  by  Saint  Memin,  is  in  the 
Corcoran  Gallery,  in  Washington.  The  same 
artist  engraved  a  head  of  Alexander  Macomb, 
which  is  owned  by  his  granddaughter,  Mrs. 
Julia  S.  Dinsmore,  of  Boone  County,  Ken- 
tucky. 


*  "  Navarre ;  or,  Researches  after  the  Descendants  of 
Robert  Navarre,  whose  Ancestors  are  the  noble  Bourbons 
of  France,"  by  Christian  Denissen. 

135 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Mr.  Ramage  painted  a  miniature  of  General 
John  Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  grandson  of 
Johannes  Van  Rensselaer,  second  Patroon  of 
the  Eastern  Manor  and  Claverack.*  This  gen- 
tleman, who  was  the  third  and  last  Patroon 
of  the  manors  that  had  been  in  his  family  for 
several  generations,  married  Catharine  Glen, 
of  Scotia,  near  Schenectady,  New  York.  It  is 
quaintly  recorded  in  the  family  Bible  that  John 
Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer  Getrout  met  Catha- 
rine Glen,  j.  d.  (^jonge  dochter)  of  Johannes 
Glen.'* 

This  couple  lived  in  the  old  mansion,  for- 
merly called  Fort  Craik,  in  Greenbush,  New 
York,  opposite  Albany.  It  was  at  the  back  of 
this  house,  which  was  built  in  1637,  of  brick 
brought  from  Holland,  and  near  the  old  well, 
that  one  of  the  many  ingenious  origins"  of 
"Yankee  Doodle''  has  been  located.  In  this 
account  the  authorship  of  the  popular  air  is 
attributed  to  Surgeon  Shuckburg,  who  was 
quartered  with  General  Abercrombie  in  the 
Van  Rensselaer  mansion. 

General  Van  Rensselaer  was  noted  for  his 
hospitality  and  good  humor,  and  that  he  pos- 
sessed a  full  share  of  presence  of  mind  is 
proved  by  the  following  incident:  **One  day, 
while  sitting  in  his  study  in  the  old  mansion, 

^  The  name  of  the  weeping  prophet  was  sufficiently 
popular  in  the  Van  Rensselaer  family  to  have  caused  con- 
fusion. Jeremiah  Van  Rensselaer,  Lieutenant-Governor 
of  New  York,  an  own  cousin  of  General  John  Jeremiah 
Van  Rensselaer,  was  living  at  the  same  time. 

136 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


a  member  of  his  regiment  called  to  see  him, 
and  was  ushered  in.  The  man  shut  the  door 
behind  him,  then  advanced,  shook  hands  with 
his  host,  and  talked  of  general  topics  for 
awhile.  He  noticed  the  General's  sword  hang- 
ing above  his  desk,  and,  reaching  up,  took  it 
down  and  drew  it  from  the  scabbard,  felt  its 
edge,  and  then,  turning  to  him  suddenly,  said, 
*  Say  a  prayer, — a  short  one, — quick  !  quick  !  as 
I  am  going  to  cut  off  your  head.*  The  General, 
turning  to  the  man,  saw  that  his  eyes  were 
blazing  with  the  fury  of  a  maniac,  and,  looking 
him  steadily  in  the  eyes,  said,  *  What !  you, 
a  good  soldier,  going  to  murder  your  own 
General!'  The  man  still  persisted,  when  the 
General  said,  keeping  his  eyes  on  him  all  the 
time,  *  Well,  if  you  must  do  it,  let  me  see  if 
the  sword  is  sharp  enough.'  The  man  obedi- 
ently handed  him  the  sword;  the  old  gentle- 
man threw  it  away,  and,  seizing  the  madman, 
held  him  until  help  arrived.'' 

A  French  artist,  who  bore  the  high-sound- 
ing name  of  Charles  Balthazar  Julien  Fevret 
de  Saint  Memin,  to  which  Louis  XVIII.  after- 
wards added  the  unsubstantial  title  of  lieu- 
tenant-colonel in  the  French  army,  came  to 
America  from  Switzerland  in  1793.  Saint  Me- 
min landed  in  Canada,  and  afterwards  lived  in 
New  York  and  Philadelphia,  where  he  applied 
himself  to  the  construction  of  a  machine  for 
the  making  of  profiles  with  mathematical  ac- 
curacy. A  French  engraver,  named  Queneday, 
had  invented  a  machine  for  this  purpose,  and 

137 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Saint  Memin  constructed  his  from  his  recol- 
lection of  Queneday's  physionotrace. 

Saint  Memin's  profiles,  as  we  are  familiar 
with  them  to-day,  have  the  effect  of  fine  en- 
gravings made  from  miniature  portraits.  They 
were  in  reality  first  drawn  life-size  on  flesh- 
tinted  paper  by  the  physionotrace,  and  were 
afterwards  finished  in  crayon.^^ 

The  pantograph  reduced  the  large  profiles 
to  the  size  required  for  the  plate,  the  portrait 
being  drawn  in  a  perfect  circle  a  little  more 
than  two  inches  in  diameter.  Having  thus 
obtained  a  correct  outline,  the  details  were 
worked  up  by  the  graver,  the  shadows  being 
finished  with  a  roulette,  which  was  one  of  M. 
de  Saint  Memin's  inventions. 

Mr.  Peale,  at  whose  house  Saint  Memin  was 
intimate,  as  were  many  French  emigrants  who 
came  to  Philadelphia  at  this  time,  speaks  of 
"his  work  as  allied  to  mezzotint,  and  says  that 
his  custom  was  to  give  a  certain  number  of 
copies  of  the  profile  with  the  copper  plate. 

By  means  of  his  ingenious  process,  M. 
de  Saint  Memin  executed  about  eight  hun- 
dred portraits.    Mr.  William  Loring  Andrews 


Although  many  of  the  small  Saint  Memin  engravings 
are  preserved  in  old  families  and  in  collections,  the  life-size 
profiles  are  quite  rare.  One  of  Christopher  Grant  Champlin, 
of  Newport,  is  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  George  C.  Mason, 
of  Philadelphia ;  Mr.  Charles  Bradford,  of  West  Chester, 
owns  one  of  Miss  Mary  Caldwell,  of  Philadelphia ;  and 
Mrs.  James  M.  Longacre  has  one  of  a  Revolutionary 
ancestor.  Captain  Joseph  Barker,  of  Delaware, 

138 


Dr.  Archibald  Bruce  Christopher  Grant  Champlin 

By  Charles  B.  J.  F.  de  Saint  Memin 
Page  139 


Eleanor  Clifton 
By  Charles  B.  J.  F.  de  Saint  Memin 
Page  139 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


speaks  of  Saint  Memin  as  a  remarkably  pro- 
lific French  artist,  who  began  to  draw  and 
engrave  miniatures  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
and  as  far  south  as  Charleston.  The  larger 
number  of  them  are  family  portraits  of  highly 
respectable  nobodies  in  particular,  chiefly  resi- 
dents of  the  City  of  Brotherly  Love;"  yet  in 
the  list  of  Saint  Memin's  engravings  we  find 
many  distinguished  names.  Portraits  of  Wash- 
ington, Jefferson,  Madison,  Chancellor  Liv- 
ingston, Thomas  Sedgwick,  Charles  Carroll, 
Richard  Bassett,  Elias  Boudinot,  and  of  many 
other  well-known  men.  North  and  South,  were 
engraved  by  Saint  Memin.  He  also  engraved 
a  portrait  of  Christopher  Grant  Champlin,  who 
upon  different  occasions  served  his  native  State 
in  both  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  of  Dr.  Archibald  Bruce,  a 
well-known  New  York  physician,  who  lived  on 
Bayard  Street  in  the  days  when  that  street 
was  a  fashionable  locality.  Dr.  Bruce  was  the 
author  of  several  scientific  books  which  were 
much  thought  of  in  his  day,  but,  as  science  is 
a  changeful  and  fickle  mistress,  are  little  known 
at  the  present  time. 

Among  the  lovely  women  whose  features 
have  been  preserved  to  us  by  this  French 
artist  are  Mrs.  Brockholst  Livingston,  Theo- 
dosia  Burr,  Miss  Cornelia  Schuyler,  Mrs.  De 
Witt  Clinton,  and  Miss  Eleanor  Clifton.  The 
latter  was  a  reigning  belle  in  Philadelphia 
during  the  British  occupation  of  that  city. 
Her  original  invitation  to  participate  in  the 

139 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


festivity  known  as  the  Meschianza,  signed  by 
Sir  Henry  Calder,  is  still  preserved  in  her 
family,  with  a  letter  written  in  November, 
1777,  by  her  sister,  Miss  Anna  Maria  Clifton, 
to  Sir  William  Howe.  In  this  letter  Miss 
Clifton  entreats  General  Howe,  in  language 
both  dignified  and  pathetic,  to  exempt  her  and 
her  sister  from  having  any  officers  quartered 
in  their  house,  pleading  that,  unprotected  as 
we  are,  without  a  gentleman  in  our  family, 
the  inconveniences  arising  from  this  obligation 
must  immediately  recur  to  your  Excellency^ 
At  a  time  like  this  I  would  not  request  an 
exemption  from  any  necessary  order,  but  the 
peculiarity  of  our  situation  makes  it  impossible 
to  do  otherwise/' 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  Sir  William  Howe 
was  not  deaf  to  the  appeal  of  beauty  in  dis- 
tress, as  a  note  made  on  Miss  Clifton's  letter 
relates  that  *'The  next  morning  Captain  M., 
one  of  the  General's  aides-de-camp,  brought  us 
a  protection  signed  by  Sir  William  Howe,  and 
an  order  to  the  same  purpose  which  he  was  to 
leave  at  the  barrack-master's  office  for  us  and 
our  property." 

In  the  latter  years  of  the  century,  Robert 
Fulton,  of  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  to  whom 
the  arts  were  dear  as  well  as  mechanics, 
was  painting  portraits  and  miniatures.  Fulton 
urged  upon  his  native  State  the  importance  of 
securing  for  Philadelphia,  as  the  nucleus  of  an 
art  gallery,  a  full  collection  of  West's  pictures. 
The    Lear"  and    Ophelia"  he  bought  himself 

140 


Mrs.  David  Hayfield  Conyngham 
By  Robert  Fulton 
Page  141 


Mrs.  John  Fishbourne  Mifflin 
By  William  Birch 
Page  142 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  presented  to  the  New  York  association  of 
artists. 

Although  Fulton  went  to  London  to  study- 
art  with  Benjamin  West,  and  painted  portraits 
in  Devonshire  for  some  months,  his  mind  soon 
turned  towards  that  for  which  it  had  the 
strongest  affinity.  While  in  England  he  be- 
came interested  in  the  improvement  of  inland 
navigation,  made  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Duke  of  Bridgewater,  Lord  Stanhope,  and 
other  scientists,  obtained  several  patents  from 
the  British  government,  and,  during  eighteen 
months  spent  in  Birmingham,  improved  his 
knowledge  of  mechanics  in  the  great  work- 
shops of  that  city. 

Among  Fulton's  miniatures  is  one  of  Mary 
West,  of  Philadelphia,  who  married  David 
Hayfield  Conyngham.  This  tiny  head,  which 
is  set  in  a  ring,  is  said  to  have  been  painted 
with  the  lady's  own  hair,  cut  fine  and  put  on 
with  a  brush.  A  memorial  of  the  devotion  of 
the  artist  to  Mary  West  is  this  quaint  and 
curious  miniature. 

Mr.  Fulton  painted  a  miniature  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, whose  strong,  benevolent  face  was  deline- 
ated by  every  artist  of  note  at  home  and  abroad. 
Fulton's  miniature  was  painted  in  the  latter 
years  of  Dr.  Franklin's  life.  The  most  inter- 
esting of  the  miniatures  of  the  great  philoso- 
pher and  statesman  is  one  by  a  French  artist, 
Joseph  Sifrede  Duplessis,  now  owned  by  his 
great-granddaughter,  Mrs.  E.  D.  Gillespie. 

Robert  Fulton  also  painted  a  portrait  of  his 
141 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


life-long  friend,  Joel  Barlow,  and  some  heads 
in  crayon.  One  of  these  is  of  Margaret  Ross, 
a  pretty  girl  of  sixteen,  taken  in  fancy  dress. 
Of  her  sister,  Clementina  Ross,  William  Birch 
made  a  miniature  in  enamel.  Clementina  Ross 
was  a  daughter  of  Clementina  Cruikshank  and 
John  Ross,  and  a  sister  of  Mrs.  George  Plum- 
sted  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Breck.  Mrs.  John  Ross 
was  born  in  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  whence  her 
parents  emigrated  to  Pennsylvania  in  1745. 
Her  father.  Captain  Cruikshank,  lived  at  "  Clif- 
ton Hall,'*  a  country  place  seven  miles  from 
Philadelphia,  which  was  afterwards  known  as 
the    Grange  Farm." 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  Clementina  Ross 
married  John  Fishbourne  Mifflin,  of  Philadel- 
phia, who  was  a  trustee  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  member  of  the  American  Phil- 
osophical Society,  and  one  of  the  executors 
of  the  estate  of  Governor  John  Penn.  Mr. 
Mifflin  lived  far  enough  back  in  history  to  have 
been  baptized  by  the  Reverend  Jacob  Duche, 
and  to  have  had  Bishop  White  for  his  sponsor 
in  baptism. 

It  was  Dr.  Duche's  elegant  appearance  in 
the  pulpit  that  led  Miss  Sarah  Eve  to  discourse 
upon  parsons  and  powder,  and  to  wonder  why 
such  an  exemplary  man  as  Dr.  Duche  should 
sit  every  day  and  have  his  hair  powdered  by  a 
barber.  But,''  she  adds,  as  her  conclusion  of 
the  whole  matter,  "  what  would  a  parson  be 
without  powder?  It  is  as  necessary  to  him 
as  to  a  soldier,  for  it  gives  a  more  significant 

142 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


shake  to  his  head,  and  is  as  a  priming  to  his 
words  and  looks."* 

William  Birch,  who  executed  a  number  of 
miniature  portraits  and  scenes  in  enamel,  was 
an  Englishman,  who  came  to  America  in  1794. 
An  enamel  by  him  of  Joseph  Welsh  is  pre- 
served in  the  family,  and  is  signed  '*W.  B., 
1796.*'  Birch's  enamel  of  Washington  is  said 
to  bear  a  strong  likeness  to  the  original,  al- 
though reproduced  from  Trott's  replica  in 
miniature  of  Stuart's  portrait  of  Washington. 

Thomas  Birch,  the  son  of  William,  was  a 
landscape  painter.  To  him  the  present  gene- 
ration is  indebted  for  the  many  paintings  in 
water-color  which  he  made  of  old  country- 
seats  and  historic  buildings  in  the  Middle  and 
Southern  Colonies,  especially  in  and  around 
Philadelphia. 

That  Daniel  Huntington,  who  painted  the 
large  canvas  of  the  Republican  Court,  also 
executed  portraits  in  miniature,  is  proved  by 
the  possession  in  the  Jay  family  of  an  exquisite 
medallion  by  him  of  lovely  Mrs.  John  Jay,  of 
New  York,  wife  of  the  Chief  Justice.  Pine 
also  painted  a  rustic  picture  of  Mrs.  Jay 
and  her  two  children,  in  which  her  face  is 


*  Thomas  Spence  Duche,  a  son  of  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Duche,  studied  with  Benjamin  West  in  London,  and  painted 
some  portraits.  Those  by  which  he  is  best  known  in  this 
country  are  of  two  early  dignitaries  of  the  American  Church, 
Bishop  Provoost,  of  New  York,  and  Bishop  Seabury,  of 
Connecticut.  The  latter  portrait  is  well  known  through 
Sharpens  engraving  of  it. 

143 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


charming,  but  her  figure  somewhat  out  of  pro- 
portion. 

Of  this  English  artist,  Robert  Edge  Pine, 
Mr.  Peale  tells  a  curious  story.  He  says  that 
when  Pine  made  his  studies  for  a  series  of 
American  historical  pictures,  he  made  careful 
sketches  of  the  heads  of  the  individuals  whom 
he  intended  to  represent,  but  of  the  figures  he 
unfortunately  neglected  to  secure  drawings. 
*'The  consequence,"  says  Mr.  Peale,  ''was  as 
may  be  supposed ;  he  had  forgot  the  size  and 
bulk  of  the  several  personages,  and  thus, 
unfortunately,  he  made  some  small  or  slim 
figures  where  the  originals  were  large  and 
bulky,  and,  on  the  contrary,  some  were  painted 
of  a  large  figure  when,  in  reality,  the  person 
whom  the  picture  was  intended  to  represent 
was  rather  of  a  smaller  size.  When  he  began 
to  put  his  figures  together,  remarkable  effects 
were  produced,  the  head  of  a  large  man,  for 
instance,  being  put  on  a  small  body.  The 
result  was  a  total  failure  of  the  historical 
painting.'' 

Whatever  may  have  been  Pine's  defects  in 
drawing,  he  seems  to  have  been  an  admirable 
colorist.  A  number  of  his  paintings  were  taken 
to  Boston,  where  they  were,  unfortunately, 
destroyed  in  the  conflagration  of  the  Bowen 
Museum,  but  not  until  they  had  served  the 
valuable  end  of  giving  lessons  to  Washington 
AUston.  This  artist  wrote,  years  after,  In 
the  coloring  of  figures,  the  pictures  of  Pine,  in 
the  Columbian  Museum  in  Boston,  were  my 

144 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


first  masters/*  It  was  in  reply  to  a  request  of 
Mr.  Francis  Hopkinson,  with  regard  to  having 
his  portrait  painted  by  Mr.  Pine,  that  Wash- 
ington wrote  his  celebrated  letter,  beginning, 

In  for  a  penny,  in  for  a  pound,''  in  which  he 
said  of  himself  that  he  was  at  first  as  restive 
in  the  painter's  hands  as  a  colt  is  of  the  saddle, 
but,  having  grown  more  accustomed  to  it,  no 
dray  horse  moves  more  readily  to  the  thill 
than  I  to  the  Painter's  Chair." 

As  an  illustration  of  the  change  of  feeling  in 
America  with  regard  to  statuary.  Judge  Joseph 
Hopkinson  wrote  of  Mr.  Pine,  some  years 
after  his  death :  ^*  He  brought  with  him  a 
plaster  cast  of  the  Venus  de  Medicis,  which 
was  kept  shut  up  in  a  case,  and  only  shown 
to  persons  who  particularly  wished  to  see  it, 
as  the  manners  of  our  country  at  that  time 
would  not  tolerate  the  exhibition  of  such  a 
figure." 

Adolph  Ulric  Wertmiiller,  a  Swede  by  birth, 
came  to  America  in  1794.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Academies  of  Sculpture  and 
Painting  at  Paris  and  Stockholm,  and  accom- 
plished some  excellent  work  in  this  country. 
His  noble  and  dignified  portrait  of  Washing- 
ton, now  owned  by  Mr.  John  Wagner,  of 
Philadelphia,  is  sufficiently  like  the  best  por- 
traits of  the  Commander-in-Chief  to  recom- 
mend itself  as  a  likeness.  Through  this 
portrait  and  his  celebrated  Danae  receiving 
Jupiter  in  a  Shower  of  Gold,"  which  is  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  examples  of  purity  in 
10  145 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


nude  composition  in  America,*  Wertmiiller  is 
best  known  in  the  United  States. 

Mr.  Dunlap  says  that  Wertmiiller  married  a 
lady  of  Swedish  descent,  who  brought  him  con- 
siderable property ;  and  Mr.  Charles  Henry 
Hart  has  recently  proved  that  this  lady  was 
a  granddaughter  of  Gustavus  Hesselius,  the 
early  Swedish  artist. 

Although  Wertmiiller  seems  to  have  painted 
no  miniatures,  he,  like  James  Sharpies,  exe- 
cuted small,  fine  portraits  in  crayon  or  oil.  One 
of  these  small  portraits,  of  Elizabeth  Coates 
Butler,  by  Wertmiiller,  is  owned  by  Mrs.  T. 
de  la  Roche  Ellis,  of  Philadelphia.  This  por- 
trait, larger  than  the  ordinary  miniature  and 
painted  upon  wood,  is  so  fine  in  color  and 
finish  that  it  may  very  properly  be  classed  with 
miniature  work. 


*  This  beautiful  painting  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Heaton, 
of  New  Haven,  Connecticut. 


146 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  V.    MALBONE  AND  ERASER 

WHAT  Gilbert  Stuart  was  to  the  larger 
portraiture  of  America,  such  was 
Edward  Greene  Malbone  to  the 
miniature  work  of  his  native  land.  Under  his 
delicate  and  skilful  touch  the  American  minia- 
ture, whatever  may  have  been  its  sporadic 
excellence  in  the  hands  of  earlier  artists,  won 
for  itself  a  place  beside  the  work  of  the  best 
French  and  English  limners. 

Like  Stuart,  Malbone  was  born  and  spent 
his  early  years  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island. 
From  childhood  his  ambition  was  to  become 
an  artist.  He  frequented  the  theatre,  attracted 
by  the  color  and  light,  and  was  especially  in- 
terested in  the  effect  of  the  scenery  by  lamp- 
light and  the  shifting  of  the  pictures. 

The  frequency  of  the  boy's  visits  to  the 
theatre,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  he  ex- 
amined everything  belonging  to  the  scenery, 
attracted  the  attention  of  an  artist  who  was 
working  on  the  scenes,  and,  to  Malbone's 
great  delight,  he  was  allowed  to  assist  the 
scene  painter  with  chalk  and  brush.  After 
this  he  was  encouraged  to  ask  for  permis- 
sion to  paint  a  scene,  which  request  was 
granted. 

Of  his  first  step  in  a  branch  of  art  so  different 
from  that  in  which  he  was  destined  to  become 

147 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


famous,  Malbone's  sister,  Mrs.  Whitehorne, 
wrote : 

**This  [scene]  was  much  applauded,  and  it 
was  so  novel  a  thing  for  such  a  boy,  that  it 
drew  crowded  houses.  I  never  heard  of  any 
lessons  in  drawing,  engagement  as  assistant,  or 
any  compensation,  (excepting  a  general  ticket 
of  admission)  until  I  met  with  it  in  the  Analectic 
Magazine ;  nor  were  his  family  circumstances 
so  humble,  but  that  his  father  could  at  any 
time  have  placed  him  in  a  different  situation, 
had  not  the  object  been  rather  to  discourage 
than  promote  his  natural  pursuits.  It  is  true 
that  his  family,  from  a  combination  of  unhappy 
events,  were  living  in  retirement,  and  suffering 
an  accumulation  of  evils,  not  however  of  a 
pecuniary  nature,  but  from  which  resulted  the 
operating  cause  of  the  neglect  of  his  early 
education ;  this  was  the  only  misfortune,  re- 
specting himself,  that  I  ever  heard  him  lament. 
He  was  now  generally  engaged  in  his  own 
room,  taking  but  little  interest  in  what  was 
passing  around  him,  daily  experience  proving 
that  his  mind  was  wholly  bent  upon  perfecting 
himself  in  the  art  of  painting.  About  the  age 
of  sixteen,  he  painted  upon  paper  Thomas 
Lawrence,  which  was  so  universally  admired 
by  every  person  of  taste  who  saw  it,  that  his 
father  could  no  longer  shut  his  eyes  to  his 
decided  talent,  but,  having  neither  drawing 
nor  painting  masters  in  Newport,  he  sent  the 
picture  by  a  friend  to  Philadelphia,  to  a  French 
artist  (with  a  request  to  receive  him  as  a  pupil) 

148 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


who  was  so  much  struck  with  the  performance 
that  he  immediately  replied,  '  De  boy  would 
take  de  bread  out  of  my  mouth,'  requiring  sev- 
eral years'  services  and  so  exorbitant  a  sum 
of  money,  that  his  father  did  not  think  proper 
to  comply  with  his  terms,  flattering  himself 
that  some  opportunity  would  present  of  placing 
him  to  more  advantage.   But  this  spirit  of  pro- 
crastination not  being  in  accordance  with  the 
youth's  feelings,  at  seventeen  he  determined  to 
throw  himself  upon  his  own  resources.  Com- 
municating his  plans  to  no  one  but  myself, 
he  proposed  a  visit  to  Providence,  and  imme- 
diately brought  himself  before  the  public  as  a 
miniature  painter,  and  so  warmly  was  he  re- 
ceived, that  several  weeks  passed  away  before 
he  apprised  his  father  of  the  step  he  had  taken. 
He  now  wrote  a  letter  to  his  father,  and  two 
to  myself,  which  I  regret  its  not  being  in  my 
power  to  forward,  having  sought  for  them  in 
vam ;  they  were  worth  preserving,  as  they 
expressed  his  hopes  and  views  for  the  future 
so  powerfully,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  much 
filial  obedience  to  his  father's  wishes." 

Although  Mrs.  Whitehorne  speaks  of  there 
bemg  no  drawing  or  painting  masters  in  New- 
port at  this  time,  Samuel  King  was  living 
there  during  the  youth  of  Malbone,  and  we 
learn  elsewhere  that  he  and  Washington  AU- 
ston  learned  the  rudiments  of  art  from  King. 

One  of  the  most  fortunate  circumstances  in 
Malbone 's  life  was  his  meeting  with  Washing- 
ton AUston.   A  similarity  of  taste  and  senti- 

149 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


ment  drew  these  two  young  men  together  in  a 
friendship  which  lasted  during  the  life  of  the 
younger  artist  and  was  of  great  advantage  to 
both.  In  1800  Malbone  and  Allston  went  to 
Charleston  together,  where  they  met  Charles 
Eraser,  who,  although  then  practising  law, 
was  devoted  to  art.  In  Charleston  Malbone 
painted  many  miniatures  ;  those  of  two  sisters, 
Sarah  Alicia  and  Decima  Cecilia  Shubrick,  are 
very  charming.  The  latter  was  painted  in  her 
bridal  dress,  with  a  tiara  of  pearls  in  her  hair, 
which  was  sent  to  her  from  England  as  a 
wedding  gift  by  her  godmother,  Mrs.  Rutledge. 
At  nineteen  Decima  Cecilia  Shubrick,  who 
was  lovely  in  character  as  she  was  beautiful 
in  person,  married  James  H.  Heyward,  of 
Charleston,  a  son  of  Thomas  Heyward,  Junior, 
signer  of  the  Declaration  from  South  Carolina 
and  a  leader  of  the  Revolutionary  party  in  his 
native  State.  Sarah  Alicia  Shubrick  married 
Mr.  Paul  Trapier,  of  Charleston.  This  Paul 
Trapier  was  descended  from  an  ancestor  of 
the  same  name  who  emigrated  from  Grenoble, 
in  Dauphiny,  France,  to  Charleston  in  1685, 
and  there  married  Elizabeth  du  Gue,  who  had 
reached  Charleston  in  1680,  after  a  singular  and 
adventurous  voyage.  Family  tradition  says 
that  Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Jacques  du 
Gue,  being,  like  many  other  Protestants,  for- 
bidden to  leave  France,  was  concealed  by  her 
friends  in  a  hogshead  marked  *'Poterie,''  and 
in  it  rolled  down  to  the  wharf  and  put  on  board 
a  vessel  that  was  about  to  sail  for  America. 

150 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


While  in  Charleston,  during  his  first  visit 
and  his  later  residence  there,  Malbone  painted 
miniatures  of  the  Pinckneys,  Sinklers,  Mani- 
gaults,  Hugers,  Middletons,  Rutledges,  Poin- 
setts,  Izards,  and  other  South  Carolinians. 
Mrs.  Ralph  Izard,  whose  handsome,  high-bred 
face  has  come  down  to  this  generation  upon 
the  canvases  of  Gainsborough  and  Copley,  was 
painted  in  miniature  by  Malbone. 

After  spending  the  winter  in  Charleston, 
Malbone  and  his  friend  Washington  Allston 
embarked  for  London,  where  they  met  with  a 
most  cordial  reception  from  Benjamin  West, 
then  president  of  the  Royal  Academy.  Here 
Malbone  painted  his  celebrated  picture  of  three 
lovely  female  figures  moving  in  a  circle,  repre- 
senting the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future, 
which  is  known  as  The  Hours.''  This  small 
painting  upon  ivory  is  exquisite  in  composition 
and  color.  West  said  that  no  man  in  England 
could  excel  it  and  some  of  the  miniature  por- 
traits which  Malbone  painted  while  in  London. 
It  has  been  said  that  ''The  Hours"  was  not  an 
entirely  original  conception.  Charles  Eraser 
said  that  Malbone  himself  told  him  that  the 
idea  of  this  painting  was  suggested  by  one  of 
Shelly' s,*  but  that  he  had  always  understood 
the  composition  to  be  Malbone's.f 

*  This  was  Samuel  Shelley,  a  celebrated  English  minia- 
ture painter,  whom  Edward  Malbone  ranked  with  Cosway 
in  the  excellence  of  his  work. 

f  This  picture  is  now  in  the  Athenaeum  at  Providence, 
Rhode  Island. 

15X 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


To  copy  from  others  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  failing  in  which  Malbone  had  little 
temptation  to  indulge,  as  originality  in  compo- 
sition and  treatment  is  one  of  the  strongest 
characteristics  of  his  painting.  This  is  proved 
by  the  excellence  of  his  early  work,  when  he 
had  had  little  instruction.  Those  who  have 
carefully  studied  Malbone's  earlier  and  later 
miniatures  agree  that  in  style  and  manner  they 
are  substantially  the  same,  and  that  those 
painted  after  his  return  from  Europe  are  to  be 
distinguished  only  by  their  superior  delicacy 
of  touch  and  greater  apparent  facility  of  execu- 
tion. 

Two  of  Malbone's  earlier  miniatures  are 
those  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Dana,  of 
Boston,  painted  about  1799,  which  are  remark- 
able for  their  beauty  and  finish.  Mr.  Dana 
was  a  son  of  Benjamin  Dana,  of  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  and  a  descendant  of  Richard 
Dana,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
that  town.  William  Dana  married  Eliza  Davis, 
daughter  of  Major  Robert  Davis,  who  was 
one  of  those  who  threw  the  tea  overboard  in 
Boston  harbor.  When  the  American  soldiers 
followed  the  retreating  British  to  the  outlet 
of  the  harbor,  Major  Davis  sent  a  messenger 
to  his  wife  bearing  to  her  the  joyful  tidings 
written  on  the  back  of  a  barrel-head,  the  only 
stationery  then  at  hand.  Eliza  Davis  Dana, 
who  was  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  woman, 
was  married  three  times,  although  she  died  at 
the  early  age  of  twenty-eight.   After  the  death 

152 


Mrs.  Paul  Trapier 
By  Edward  Greene  Malbone 
Page  150 


1 

I 

'i 
1 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  Mr.  William  Dana,  in  1802,  she  married  Mr. 
Thomas  Chandler,  of  Worcester,  Massachu- 
setts, and  after  his  death,  in  1804,  she  married 
Mr.  James  Rowan,  of  Boston. 

Among  other  charming  faces  painted  by  Mal- 
bone  were  those  of  Mrs.  Benjamin  Hazard,  a 
daughter  of  Major  Lyman,  of  Newport,  and 
of  Martha  Coffin,  who  married  Richard  C. 
Derby,  of  Salem,  Massachusetts.  The  sweet, 
girlish  eyes  that  look  forth  from  Malbone's 
miniature  of  Martha  Coffin  were  once  conver- 
sant with  the  home  life  of  Mount  Vernon, 
and  met  those  of  its  master  and  mistress  in 
the  pleasant  familiarity  of*  daily  intercourse. 
Martha  Coffin  and  Elizabeth  Bordley  were 
both  schoolmates  of  Nellie  Custis  at  Annap- 
olis, and  frequently  accompanied  her  to  her 
home  to  spend  their  vacations.  From  them 
have  come  down  many  stories  of  gayety  and 
brightness,  of  dancing  and  merrymaking,  which 
the  stately  host  and  hostess  of  Mount  Vernon 
seem  to  have  enjoyed  as  much  as  their  girl 
guests. 

The  intimacy  between  these  three  young 
women  lasted  during  their  lives,  as  is  proved 
by  a  later  interchange  of  letters,  verses,  and 
portraits.  Miss  Bordley,  who  married  James 
Gibson,  of  Philadelphia,  sent  her  portrait  to 
Mrs.  Richard  C.  Derby,  with  some  sprightly 
verses,  in  exchange  for  which  she  received  a 
beautiful  portrait  of  Mrs.  Derby  by  Gilbert 
Stuart ;  while  some  verses  written  for  Mrs. 
Gibson  by  lovely  Nellie   Custis,  long  after 

153 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


she  was  married  to  Lawrence  Lewis,  are  still 
preserved. 

No  more  interesting  subjects  engaged  the 
brush  of  Malbone  than  the  fair  faces  of  a 
group  of  girls  who  were  intimate  friends,  al- 
though living  at  what  was  considered  a  great 
distance  in  those  days  of  slow  travel.  Two 
of  these  girls  were  sisters,  Rebecca  and  Rachel 
Gratz,  of  Philadelphia,  and  their  New  York 
friends  were  Eliza  Fenno  and  Matilda  Hoff- 
man. Rebecca  Gratz,  who  possessed  a  bright 
mind  as  well  as  a  beautiful  face,  was  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Mrs.  Hoffman,  the  stepmother 
of  Matilda  Hoffman,  and  while  visiting  at  her 
house  met  many  members  of  the  brilliant 
circle  which  gave  New  York  literary  distinc- 
tion in  the  early  years  of  the  present  century. 
This  circle  included  such  writers  as  William 
CuUen  Bryant,  Washington  Irving,  James 
Fenimore  Cooper,  Joseph  Rodman  Drake, 
Fitz-Greene  Halleck,  James  Kirke  Paulding, 
Gulian  Crommelin  Verplanck,  George  P.  Mor- 
ris, Charles  Fenno  Hoffman,  the  author  of 
Sparkling  and  Bright;"  John  Inman,  a  brother 
of  Henry,  the  artist ;  and  Henry  T.  Tucker- 
man,  who  wrote  so  pleasantly  about  the  art 
fraternity. 

Mr.  Verplanck  was  associated  with  Mr.  Bry- 
ant and  Mr.  Robert  C.  Sands  in  editing  The 
Talisman,"  an  annual  which  survived  for  three 
years,  to  which  the  two  editors  made  the  princi- 
pal contributions.  Mr.  Verplanck  also  contrib- 
uted to  the  Analectic  Magazine,  edited  by  Irving. 

154 


Mrs.  Gulian  C.  Verplanck 
By  Edward  Greene  Malbone 
Page  155 


Matilda  Hoffman 
By  Edward  Greene  Malbone 
Page  156 


1 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


In  1811  he  married  Eliza  Fenno,  a  daughter 
of  John  Ward  Fenno  and  a  sister  of  Mrs. 
Jeremiah  Ogden  Hoffman. 

Eliza  Fenno's  miniature  was  painted  in  her 
early  girlhood,  when  she  is  described  as  rarely 
beautiful,  with  light  chestnut  hair  and  soft 
blue  eyes.  Several  of  Mrs.  Verplanck's  letters 
written  to  her  husband  are  still  preserved, 
and,  although  characterized  by  the  sprightli- 
ness  natural  to  a  happy  girl,  give  evidence  of 
thoughtfulness  beyond  her  years. 

Mr.  Bryant,  in  his  memoirs  of  his  friend, 
Gulian  Verplanck,  read  before  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  said : 

He  lived  with  his  young  wife  five  [six]  years, 
and  she  bore  him  two  sons,  one  of  whom  died 
at  the  age  of  thirty  and  the  other  has  become 
the  father  of  a  numerous  family.  Her  health 
failing,  he  took  her  to  Europe  in  the  hope  that 
it  might  be  restored  by  a  change  of  air,  but, 
after  languishing  awhile,  she  died  at  Paris  in 
the  year  1817.  She  sleeps  in  the  cemetery  of 
Pere-la-Chaise,  among  monuments  inscribed 
with  words  strange  to  her  childhood,  while  he, 
after  surviving  her  for  sixty-three  years,  yet 
never  forgetting  her,  is  laid  in  the  ancestral 
burying-ground,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  rolls 
between  their  graves.'' 

A  lovely  miniature  of  Mrs.  Verplanck  was 


*John  Ward  Fenno  came  originally  from  Boston,  and 
was  sometime  proprietor  of  the  United  States  Gazette,  pub- 
lished in  Philadelphia. 

155 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


found  in  her  husband's  desk  after  his  death, 
with  some  of  her  letters  and  locks  of  her 
sunny  brown  hair. 

Washington  Irving  was  a  frequent  and  in- 
formal visitor  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Jeremiah 
Ogden  Hoffman,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-six 
was  engaged  to  his  daughter  Matilda. 

The  story  of  Irving's  growing  affection  for 
this  girl  of  sixteen  and  the  impression  made 
upon  his  heart  by  her  lovely  and  ingenuous 
character  were,  years  after,  described  by  him 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend:  **We  saw  each  other 
every  day,  and  I  became  excessively  attached 
to  her.  Her  shyness  wore  off  by  degrees. 
The  more  I  saw  of  her  the  more  I  had  reason 
to  admire  her.  Her  mind  seemed  to  unfold 
leaf  by  leaf,  and  every  time  to  discover  new 
sweetness.  Nobody  knew  her  so  well  as  I, 
for  she  was  generally  timid  and  silent ;  but  I, 
in  a  manner,  studied  her  excellence.  Never 
did  I  meet  with  more  intuitive  rectitude  of 
mind,  more  native  delicacy,  more  exquisite 
propriety  in  word,  thought,  and  action,  than  in 
this  young  creature.  I  am  not  exaggerating; 
what  I  say  was  acknowledged  by  all  who 
knew  her.  Her  brilliant  little  sister  used  to 
say  that  people  began  by  admiring  her,  but 
ended  by  loving  Matilda.  For  my  part,  I 
idolized  her.  I  felt  at  times  rebuked  by  her 
superior  delicacy  and  purity,  and  as  if  I  was  a 
coarse,  unworthy  being  in  comparison." 

Washington  Irving  was,  at  the  time  of  his 
engagement  to  Matilda  Hoffman,  a  struggling 

156 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


young  writer,  engaged  upon  the  History  of 
New  York,  from  the  Beginning  of  the  World 
until  the  End  of  the  Dutch  Dynasty,''  which 
was  destined  to  make  him  famous.  From  its 
humorous  pages  he  turned  to  meet  the  great- 
est sorrow  of  his  life,  the  death  of  Matilda 
Hoffman.    He  says : 

I  saw  her  fade  rapidly  away;  beautiful, 
and  more  beautiful,  and  more  angelical  to  the 
last.  I  was  often  by  her  bedside ;  and  in  her 
wandering  state  of  mind  she  would  talk  to  me 
with  a  sweet,  natural,  and  affecting  eloquence 
that  was  overpowering.  I  saw  more  of  the 
beauty  of  her  mind  in  that  delirious  state  than 
I  had  ever  known  before.  For  three  days  and 
nights  I  did  not  leave  the  house,  and  scarcely 
slept.  I  was  by  her  when  she  died;  all  the 
family  were  assembled  round  her,  some  pray- 
ing, others  weeping,  for  she  was  adored  by 
them  all.  I  was  the  last  one  she  looked  upon. 
I  have  told  you  as  briefly  as  I  could  what,  if  I 
were  to  tell  with  all  the  incidents  and  feelings 
that  accompanied  it,  would  fill  volumes.  She 
was  but  about  seventeen  years  old  when  she 
died.'' 

These  lines  were  written  in  reply  to  the 
question  why  he  did  not  marry,  asked  Irving, 
years  after,  by  an  intimate  friend,  Mrs.  Foster. 
He  added : 

*  I  was  naturally  susceptible,  and  tried  to 
form  other  attachments,  but  my  heart  would 
not  hold  on ;  it  would  continually  recur  to 
what  it  had  lost ;  and  whenever  there  was  a 

157 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


pause  in  the  hurry  of  novelty  and  excitement, 
I  would  sink  into  dismal  dejection.  For  years 
I  could  not  talk  on  the  subject  of  this  hopeless 
regret ;  I  could  not  even  mention  her  name ; 
but  her  image  was  continually  before  me,  and 
I  dreamt  of  her  incessantly.* 

After  his  death,  in  a  private  repository,  of 
which  he  always  kept  the  key,  was  found  a 
lovely  miniature,  a  braid  of  fair  hair,  and  a 
slip  of  paper,  on  which  was  written  in  his 
own  hand,  *  Matilda  Hoffman  and  with  these 
treasures  were  several  pages  of  a  memorandum 
in  ink,  long  since  faded.  He  kept  through  life 
her  Bible  and  Prayer-Book ;  they  were  placed 
nightly  under  his  pillow  in  the  first  days  of 
anguish  that  followed  her  loss,  and  ever  after 
they  were  the  inseparable  companions  of  all 
his  wanderings.''* 

During  the  illness  of  Matilda  Hoffman,  Re- 
becca Gratz  nursed  her  with  devoted  care, 
and  ever  after  a  warm  friendship  existed  be- 
tween Washington  Irving  and  the  beautiful 
Jewess.  The  story  of  Irving's  conversations 
with  Walter  Scott,  in  which  he  described  to 
him  the  beauty  and  loveliness  of  Rebecca 
Gratz,  and  thus  led  to  the  portrayal  of  one  of 
the  noblest  of  the  novelist's  characters,  has 
often  been  told.  We  think  of  Rebecca  Gratz, 
beautiful,  beloved,  fit  heroine  for  a  romance  of 
the  days  of  chivalry,  forgetting  the  years  of 


^ "  Life  of  Washington  Irving,"  by  Charles  Dudley 
Warner. 

158 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


self-sacrifice  and  devotion  that  followed  her 
brilliant  youth,  when  works  of  charity  and 
philanthropy  engaged  her  time  and  thoughts. 

There  were  few  benevolent  institutions  of 
her  day  in  the  city  of  her  birth  that  did  not 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  Rebecca  Gratz's  judicious 
counsel  and  earnest  service. 

In  Hebrew  and  Christian  charities  she  labored 
with  equal  zeal,  being  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  Jewish  Foster  Home,  of  the  Female 
Benevolent  Association,  and  of  the  Philadel- 
phia Orphan  Society.  For  fifty  years  she  was 
upon  the  board  of  management  of  the  latter 
institution,  acting  as  its  secretary  during  most 
of  this  time.  The  crowning  work  of  the  life 
of  Rebecca  Gratz,  in  the  estimation  of  her 
own  people,  was  the  founding  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath-schools  of  Philadelphia.  In  these 
schools,  begun  in  1838,  when  Miss  Gratz  was 
nearly  sixty  years  of  age,  prayers  of  her  own 
composition  were  used,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  instruction  there  received  many  men  and 
women  of  her  race  still  rise  up  and  call  her 
blessed. 

Miss  Gratz  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-eight 
years,  and  until  her  eightieth  year  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  works  of  benevolence  in  which 
her  generous  heart  delighted.  Her  niece,  Mrs. 
Alfred  Mordecai,  in  writing  for  her  family  an 
account  of  the  varied  and  useful  career  of  her 
aunt,  closes  her  record  with  these  appropriate 
words  from  the  Book,  which  was  Rebecca 
Gratz's  guide  through  the  years  of  her  long 

159 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


life :  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands,  and 
let  her  own  works  praise  her  in  the  gates." 

When  Malbone  came  to  Philadelphia  he 
brought  letters  of  introduction  to  Miss  Re- 
becca Gratz  from  her  friend,  Mrs.  J.  Ogden 
Hoffman.  Through  Miss  Gratz  he  obtained  so 
many  orders  that  he  painted  a  miniature  of 
her  younger  sister,  Rachel,  which  he  took  to 
Mrs.  Hoffman  as  a  present.  Rachel  Gratz 
was  a  beautiful  blonde,  while  Rebecca  Biddle, 
an  intimate  friend  and  neighbor  of  the  two 
sisters,  had  hair  and  eyes  as  dark  as  those  of 
Rebecca  Gratz.  A  story  is  told  of  a  call  made 
at  a  friend's  house  by  Rebecca  Biddle  and 
Rachel  Gratz,  where  a  lady  was  visiting  who 
prided  herself  upon  always  recognizing  a 
Jewess,  under  whatever  circumstances  she 
might  appear.  After  Miss  Gratz  and  Miss 
Biddle  had  left  the  room,  the  hostess  turned 
to  her  friend  and  challenged  her  to  say  which 
of  the  two  girls  was  of  Jewish  birth.  ''The 
dark-eyed  beauty,  of  course,"  was  the  reply; 
and  it  was  with  much  difficulty  that  the  expert 
was  convinced  that  she  had  made  a  mistake, 
and  that  the  lovely  blonde  with  whom  she  had 
conversed  was  in  reality  the  Jewess. 

It  was  of  this  Rebecca  Biddle  that  her 
cousin,  Nicholas  Biddle,  a  celebrated  wit,  who 

dropped  occasionally  into  poetry,"  wrote 
some  humorous  verses.  Colonel  and  Mrs. 
Clement  Biddle  were,  with  their  family,  spend- 
ing the  summer  at  the  Robin  Hood  Tavern, 
about  five  miles  from  Philadelphia.    Of  the 

i6o 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


composition  of  these  verses,  Mr.  Nicholas 
Biddle,  who  was  visiting  Colonel  and  Mrs. 
Clement  Biddle,  wrote : 

After  I  had  gone  to  bed,  the  family  were 
waked  up  by  the  eldest  son,  Thomas  Biddle, 
who  came  with  news  that  his  eldest  sister, 
Mary,  who  was  absent  from  home,  had  that 
afternoon  gone  over  the  Schuylkill  to  the  Hut, 
I  think  it  was  called,  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
liam Willing  lived,  and  had  there  been  married 
to  Mr.  Thomas  Cadwalader .  They  had  been  for 
some  time  previous  engaged,  but  an  opposition 
on  the  part  of  his  family  prevented  the  union, 
till  the  young  people  took  the  matter  into  their 
own  hands,  and  settled  the  affair  this  afternoon. 
They  did  well,  for  among  my  acquaintances 
I  have  known  no  one  [marriage]  more  judi- 
cious or  productive  of  more  mutual  happiness 
than  this.  The  next  morning  I  returned  home- 
wards, but,  stopping  at  a  country-seat  of  my 
father's  in  Islington  Lane,  I  found  an  old  scrap 
of  paper,  on  which  I  indited  the  following 

"THE  ELECTION  OF  REBECCA, 
"set  forth  in  verie  lamentable  rhymes. 

"Olympus  Record, 
"June  25,  1804. 
"  The  Gods  of  Olympus  this  night  had  sat  late 
Discussing  at  length  the  affairs  of  the  State, 


^  These  verses  are  now  used  for  the  first  time,  through 
the  courtesy  of  the  Honorable  Craig  Biddle,  of  Philadel- 
phia. 

XI  161 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


When  Venus,  quite  breathless,  burst  open  the  door, 
And  *  Miss  Biddle,*  she  loudly  exclaimed,  *  is  no  more  !* 
Each  God  was  affrighted,  but  Venus  went  on, 

*  I  speak  only  the  truth,  she  has  indeed  gone. 
But  she's  gone  to  the  arms  of  her  fortunate  lover, 
And  her  cares  and  anxieties  now  are  all  over ; 
No  longer  shall  fears  her  soft  bosom  molest. 
But  a  blessing  to  all,  she  herself  shall  be  blest. 
And  her  life,  which  the  good  shall  forever  approve, 
Shall  be  true  as  her  feelings  and  pure  as  her  love.' 
When  the  rapture  of  joy  had  begun  to  subside, 
'Twas  moved  her  successor  they  now  should  provide ; 
The  motion  was  carried, — old  Jove  took  the  chair, 
And  stated  the  case  with  a  Congressman's  air. 

"  *  By  a  law  of  King  Saturn,  my  friends,  'tis  decreed 
That  the  next  single  sister  should  always  succeed ; 
As  a  matter  of  course,  then,  I  trust  you  will  see 
That  henceforward  Rebecca  Miss  Biddle  must  be.* 
To  adopt  this  advice  the  whole  council  inclined. 
When  Juno  rose  up  and  thus  spoke  out  her  mind : 

*  I  know  you  all  love  her,  and  yet  1  declare 

I  don't  think  this  Rebecca's  a  girl  worth  a  hair. 
She's  ugly,  she's  ignorant,  thinks  she's  a  wit. 
Always  trying  a  pun  which  she  never  can  hit ; 
She's  saucy,  ill-tempered,  and  always  in  strife. 
And  to  vex  all  her  friends  seems  the  aim  of  her  life. 
In  short,  if  you  choose  her  'twill  give  me  more  pain 
Than  to  witness  the  woes  of  a  long  inter-reign.' 

*  To  this  judgment,'  said  Bacchus,  *  I  give  my  support ; 
I  don't  like  the  girl,  for  she  never  drinks  port ; 
Besides,  she's  a  thief,  though  I  ne'er  could  detect  her ; 
Yet  her  lips  and  her  breath  prove  the  loss  of  our  nectar.* 
At  these  slanders  so  false,  the  whole  heavens  took  fire, 
And  Venus  first  vented  her  terrible  ire  : 

*  Shall  that  face  and  that  form  which  would  honor  a 

throne, 

Which  the  Queen  of  the  loves  would  be  happy  to  own, 
162 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Shall  those  eyes  which  intoxicate  more  than  the  bowl, 
All  beaming  with  spirit,  all  glowing  with  soul, 
Shall  the  grace  and  the  sweetness  her  manners  combine, 
Which  make  her  so  lovely,  and  just  not  divine, — 
Shall  these  be  unnoticed  ?    Ah,  when  my  son's  dart, 
Defying  her  caution,  shall  reach  that  young  heart. 
New  beauties,  new  lightnings,  shall  flash  in  those  eyes. 
And  Juno,  tho'  jealous,  applaud  to  the  skies.' 
Minerva  defended  the  maiden's  strong  mind. 
Which  genius  enlightened  and  study  refined ; 
That  although  her  fine  spirits  might  sometimes  be  wild, 
Yet  her  heart  was  as  true  as  her  temper  was  mild. 
And  the  world  might  be  searched  ere  again  we  should 
find 

A  daughter  so  loving,  a  sister  so  kind. 
Momus  rose,  with  a  grin,  and  swore  Juno  was  crazy. 
Or  had  only  seen  Beck  when  the  weather  was  hazy ; 
For  his  part,  he  vowed,  since  he  last  had  the  glass 
All  he  saw  was  eclipsed  by  this  exquisite  lass ; 
That  she  never  sat  still,  but  had  something  to  say, 
And  in  frolic  and  fun  would  delight  the  whole  day ; 
And  if  ever  her  wit  seemed  to  wound  a  weak  friend, 
To  injure  a  soul  she  could  never  intend. 
*  And  though,  Mr.  Chairman,  her  sister  has  merit, 
Yet  Rebecca  for  me,  sir, — ah !  she  has  the  spirit.* 
Convinced  by  this  evidence,  Juno  relented, 
And  Bacchus  to  vote  in  her  favor  consented. 
Great  Jove  put  the  question — nem.  con,  'twas  agreed 
That  Rebecca  to  Mary  should  quickly  succeed. 
Some  thought  she'd  refuse,  but  the  notion  was  scouted. 
And  *  Rebecca's  Miss  Biddle  !*  through  Olympus  was 
shouted. 

The  Gods  then,  unanimous,  gave  their  permission 
That  I,  the  Grand  Scribe,  should  make  out  a  commission. 

"  All  hail,  then,  Miss  Biddle  !  but  do  not  long  tarry ; 
Soon  give  up  your  title  and  (you  know  whom)  marry. 

"Islington  Lane." 

163 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


The  lover  to  whom  Mr.  Biddle  referred  was, 
doubtless,  Miss  Biddle*s  future  husband.  Dr. 
Nathaniel  Chapman,  later  so  celebrated  in  the 
medical  world,  some  of  whose  witty  sayings 
have  become  proverbs  in  Philadelphia  life. 

All  these  fair  girls  have  passed  away,  like 
their  brave  knights,  whose  bones  are  dust, 
whose  good  swords  rust ;  and  we,  looking 
upon  their  portraits,  may  well  give  thanks 
to  the  painters  who  have  left  to  the  world 
such  exquisite  memorials  of  fleeting  grace  and 
beauty. 

That  Malbone  could  paint  fine  portraits  of 
men,  as  well  as  of  women,  is  proved  by  minia- 
tures of  Richard  Kidder  Randolph,  of  Ray 
Greene,  United  States  Senator  from  Rhode 
Island,  of  General  Thomas  Cadwalader,  of 
Joseph  Kirkbride  Milnor,  and  of  Major  John 
Handy,  who  read  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence from  the  steps  of  the  State  House  at 
Newport  in  July,  1776.  Joseph  Milnor,  who 
was  too  young  to  take  any  part  in  the  struggle 
for  independence,  was  a  son  of  one  of  the 
beautiful  matrons  who  received  Washington 
when  he  passed  through  Trenton  on  his  jour- 
ney to  the  capital,  and  a  nephew  of  Colonel 
Joseph  Kirkbride,  whose  handsome  country- 
seat  at  Bordentown,  New  Jersey,  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  British  during  the  Revolution. 

Malbone's  miniatures  possess  strong  char- 
acteristics, which  enable  those  who  are  familiar 
with  his  style  to  recognize  the  master's  hand 
at  a  glance.    Of  what  may  be  called  the  in- 

164 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


tellectual  and  spiritual  qualities  of  his  work, 
which  were  combined  with  admirable  tech- 
nique, Malbone's  friend,  Washington  AUston, 
wrote  :  He  had  the  happy  talent  of  elevating 
the  character  without  impairing  the  likeness. 
This  was  remarkable  in  his  male  heads,  and 
no  woman  ever  lost  beauty  under  his  hand. 
To  this  he  added  a  grace  of  execution  all  his 
own.''  An  excellent  example  of  strength  and 
breadth  in  drawing  and  composition,  combined 
with  an  almost  ethereal  delicacy  in  expression 
and  color,  is  a  miniature  of  Mrs.  Alexander 
Bleecker,  of  New  York,  whose  beauty  afforded 
an  inspiring  subject  for  the  artist's  brush.  This 
miniature  was  painted  at  the  time  of  Mrs. 
Bleecker's  marriage,  in  1803.  The  simplicity 
and  sweetness  with  which  Malbone  has  repre- 
sented the  girl-wife  of  sixteen  render  this  one 
of  the  loveliest  of  his  compositions. 

Through  a  train  of  circumstances  unneces- 
sary to  relate,  the  miniature  of  Mrs.  Bleecker 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Edward  Carey, 
of  Philadelphia,  who  had  an  engraving  of  it 
made  for  The  Gift"  of  1843,  where  it  appeared 
under  the  title  of  Egeria."  A  miniature  of 
Alexander  Bleecker  was  painted  by  Malbone 
as  a  companion  to  that  of  his  wife.  These 
miniatures,  like  most  of  Malbone's,  are  con- 
siderably larger  than  those  of  an  earlier  time, 
yet  so  graceful  was  his  composition  and  so 
exquisite  his  coloring,  that  the  portrait  lost 
none  of  its  delicacy  through  this  increase  in 
dimensions,  while  it  gained  in  importance  as 

165 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


a  record  of  the  past.  This  departure  with 
regard  to  the  size  of  the  miniature  was  fol- 
lowed by  Charles  Eraser  and  other  artists  of 
the  same  period.  Eraser,  who  knew  Edward 
Malbone  well,  said  of  him : 

His  rapid  progress  convinced  him  that  he 
had  talents,  and  gave  alacrity  to  his  endeavors. 
Prospects  of  fame  began  to  open  upon  his 
mind,  and  that  propensity,  which  had  hitherto 
been  nourished  by  the  mere  force  of  nature, 
derived  additional  vigour  from  the  hopes  which 
increasing  reputation  and  wealth  inspired." 

It  was  doubtless  this  ambition  and  his  de- 
vouring passion  for  work  that  preyed  upon 
the  naturally  delicate  constitution  of  Malbone. 
His  death,  in  1807,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
was  an  irreparable  loss  to  American  art,  al- 
though '*the  wonder  grows'*  that  Edward 
Malbone  was  able  to  accomplish  so  much 
admirable  work  during  the  few  years  in  which 
he  practised  a  profession  which  he  so  truly 
honored. 

When  Eraser  met  Malbone,  about  1800,  the 
former  was  in  a  lawyer's  office,  although  all 
his  tastes  and  inclinations  were  in  favor  of  an 
artistic  career.  Between  this  time  and  1818, 
Eraser  fluctuated  between  art  and  law,  until, 
having  amassed  a  competency  by  the  practice 
of  the  latter  profession,  he  felt  at  liberty  to 
devote  himself  to  the  goddess  who  had  wooed 
him  from  his  boyhood,  and  to  whom  he  had 
given  his  first  affections.  His  marked  success 
in  miniature  painting  in  later  years  adds  a  note 

166 


Colonel  William  Drayton 
By  Charles  Fraser 
Page  i68 


Mary  Theodosia  Ford 
By  Charles  Fraser 
Page  167 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  pathos  to  the  artist's  own  expressions  with 
regard  to  the  more  practical  career  which  was 
urged  upon  him  by  his  guardians : 

It  was  to  this  timid  and  home-bred  feeling 
(if  so  I  may  call  it)  that  I  owe  the  circumstance 
of  not  having  been  educated  as  an  artist.  This 
unfortunate  error,  by  which  the  destiny  of  my 
life  was  directed, — or,  rather,  misdirected, — will 
ever  be,  as  it  has  always  been,  a  source  of 
regret  to  me.'' 

Joshua  Cantir,  a  Danish  artist,  was  living 
in  Charleston  during  the  boyhood  of  Charles 
Eraser,  and  may  have  given  him  some  lessons. 
He  himself  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of 
drawing  a  boy  whose  name  was  destined  to 
be  far  better  known  than  his  own.  Thomas 
Sully  was  a  schoolmate  of  Eraser's,  who 
delighted  to  assist  and  encourage  him  in 
what  their  schoolmaster  doubtless  considered 
a  career  of  idleness. 

Although  Eraser  painted  a  miniature  of  the 
Marquis  de  Lafayette  during  his  last  visit  to 
America,  most  of  his  portraits  were  of  South 
Carolinians.  As  a  proof  of  the  industry  of 
this  man,  who  began  his  artistic  career  rather 
late  in  life,  it  has  been  stated  that  he  painted 
three  hundred  and  thirteen  miniatures. 

An  excellent  example  of  Eraser's  beautiful 
coloring  is  to  be  found  in  a  miniature  of  Mary 
Theodosia  Eord,  painted  about  1829.  Mary 
Eord  was  a  granddaughter  of  Colonel  Jacob 
Eord,  of  Morristown,  New  Jersey,  whose  fine 
old  homestead  was  used  by  General  Washing- 

167 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


ton  as  his  headquarters  during  the  winter  of 
1779  and  1780.  Colonel  Jacob  Ford  had  died  in 
1777 ;  but  his  widow,  whose  name  Mary  Ford 
bore,  shared  the  spacious  old  mansion  with 
the  General  and  Mrs.  Washington.  Timothy 
Ford,  the  father  of  Mary,  removed  from  Mor- 
ristown  to  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  where 
he  afterwards  lived  with  his  family,  and  where 
his  daughter's  miniature  was  painted. 

Another  interesting  miniature  by  Eraser, 
painted  about  the  same  time,  is  that  of  Colonel 
William  Drayton,  who  was  commissioned  first 
lieutenant  in  **The  Ancient  Battalion  of  Artil- 
lery of  Charleston,''  and  at  the  beginning  of 
the  War  of  1812  was  commissioned  lieutenant- 
colonel  in  the  Tenth  United  States  Infantry. 
After  representing  his  native  State  in  Congress 
for  five  years,  and  declining  the  portfolio  of 
war  and  the  English  mission.  Colonel  Drayton 
removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  spent  the 
remnant  of  his  days  in  a  house  on  Portico  Row. 
Colonel  Drayton,  although  averse  to  the  tariff, 
was  distinctly  opposed  to  nullification,  and  was 
so  far  in  advance  of  his  time  that  he  freed  his 
numerous  slaves  before  leaving  his  South  Caro- 
lina home. 

Colonel  William  Drayton's  first  wife  was 
Anne  Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina ;  he  after- 
wards married  Maria  Miles  Heyward,  daughter 
of  William  Heyward,  of  Charleston.  A  beau- 
tiful miniature  of  the  second  Mrs.  Drayton 
was  painted  by  Malbone. 

Elkanah  Tisdale,  John  Wesley  Jarvis,  Robert 
168 


Samuel  Milligan 
By  J.  Robinson 
Pag-e  208 


James  Williams 
By  Benjamin  Trott 
Page  169 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Field,  Benjamin  Trott,  and  several  other  minia- 
turists were  painting  at  the  same  time  as 
Malbone  and  Eraser,  the  early  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century  having  been  a  productive 
period  in  the  miniature  art  of  America,  as  were 
the  Revolutionary  years  and  those  following 
them  in  larger  portraiture.  In  the  smaller  as 
in  the  larger  art,  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude 
appeared  in  the  sky,  with  many  lesser  lights 
following  in  its  train.  One  of  these,  who  in 
the  quality  of  work  nearly  approached  Mal- 
bone, and  in  the  estimation  of  some  critics 
excelled  him,  was  Benjamin  Trott.  Trott  was 
the  most  distinctly  American  of  our  artists,  as 
he  was  born  in  this  country  and  never  studied 
abroad.  His  admirable  understanding  of  color 
values  may  have  been  acquired  during  his 
studies  with  Gilbert  Stuart  and  while  copying 
some  of  his  work  in  miniature. 

Trott 's  miniatures  are  characterized  by 
strength  and  delicacy.  One  of  Mr.  James 
Williams,  of  Philadelphia,  in  which  the  hand- 
some, clearly  cut  face  stands  out  against  a 
background  of  blue  sky  veiled  by  light  clouds, 
is  suggestive  of  Richard  Cosway  in  its  treat- 
ment, although  Trott  could  not  have  studied 
with  the  English  artist  and  probably  saw  few 
of  his  miniatures. 

Trott  was  painting  in  Philadelphia  about  1808, 
occupying  a  studio  with  Thomas  Sully.  His 
portrait  in  miniature  of  Benjamin  Wilcocks, 
a  warm  friend  of  Thomas  Sully,  is  considered 
very  fine,  as  is  that  of  the  Honorable  William 

169 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Wilkins,  of  Pittsburg,  and  of  Lewis  Sanders, 
of  Lexington,  Kentucky.  The  latter  miniature 
was  painted  for  Mr.  Sanders's  fiande,  Anne 
Nicholas.  Mr.  Trott  painted  from  life  a  min- 
iature of  George  Clymer,  signer  of  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence  and  member  of  the 
Continental  Congress.  This  miniature,  which 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  great-grand- 
daughters, Mrs.  Grant,  of  Rome,  and  the 
Countess  de  Bryas,  of  Paris,  has  been  en- 
graved by  Mr.  Longacre  and  the  late  Mr. 
John  Sartain,  of  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Trott  also 
painted  a  miniature  of  Mrs.  Powel,  whose  hus- 
band, Samuel  Powel,  was  the  last  Mayor  of 
Philadelphia  under  the  Crown.  Mrs.  PoweVs 
miniature,  painted  in  her  old  age,  is  delicate 
and  attractive. 

An  artist  of  whose  success  as  a  miniature 
painter  Trott  is  said  to  have  been  very  jealous 
was  Robert  Field.  Field,  who  was  also  an 
engraver,  painted  miniatures  of  Boston,  New 
York,  Washington,  and  Philadelphia  beauties. 
Mr.  Dunlap  speaks  of  ''two  very  beautiful 
female  heads"  by  him, — one  of  Mrs.  Allen,  of 
Boston,  and  one  of  Mrs.  Thornton,  of  Wash- 
ington. An  interesting  Philadelphia  miniature 
attributed  to  Field,  but  not  well  authenticated, 
is  that  of  Frances  Cadwalader,  who  married 
her  cousin,  David  Montagu,  afterwards  Lord 
Erskine.  A  portrait  by  Stuart,  which  was 
painted  about  the  time  of  Miss  Cadwalader*s 
marriage,  in  1800,  represents  a  charming  girl 
of  seventeen  in  a  simple  muslin  gown. 

170 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


It  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  this  sim- 
plicity of  costume  and  treatment,  which  in  the 
hands  of  such  masters  as  Stuart  and  Malbone 
stands  for  the  highest  art,  characterized  so 
much  of  the  work  of  the  day.  No  matter  how 
high  or  how  cumbersome  was  the  headdress 
with  which  the  beauty  of  the  period  disfigured 
herself  at  ball  or  rout,  it  was  seldom  allowed 
to  interfere  with  the  natural  lines  of  the  head 
and  face  as  it  appeared  upon  the  canvas  or 
ivory. 


171 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  VI.  THE  BEAUTY  OF  OUR 
GRANDMOTHERS 

I  ^HERE  is  a  species  of  female  beauty 
I  almost  peculiar  to  this  country. 
M  Perhaps  it  is  best  described  as  the 
very  opposite  of  robust.  Indeed,  it  is  winsome 
partly  from  the  sense  of  fragility  it  conveys. 
Lightness  of  figure,  delicacy  of  feature,  and  a 
transparent  complexion  are  its  essentials.  It 
is  suggestive  at  once  of  that  quality  which  the 
French  call  spirituelle ;  and  we  can  readily  ac- 
count for  the  partiality  it  excites  in  foreigners, 
from  their  having  been  accustomed  to  the 
hearty  attractions  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  or  the 
noble  outline  and  impassioned  expression  of 
the  Southern  Europeans.  ...  If  ever  there 
was  a  man  specially  endowed  to  delineate 
our  countrywomen,  particularly  those  of  the 
Northern  and  Middle  States,  where  the  pecu- 
liarities we  have  noticed  are  chiefly  observable, 
it  is  Thomas  Sully." 

So  wrote  Henry  T.  Tuckerman,  in  the  first 
half  of  the  century,  of  the  American  type  of 
beauty  and  of  the  artist  who  so  gracefully 
portrayed  it.  Reading  these  lines,  and  looking 
upon  the  delicate  and  almost  ethereal  beauty 
of  the  faces  and  forms  that  have  come  down 
to  us  upon  the  canvases  of  Sully  and  upon 
the  ivories  of  Malbone,  Freeman,  and  Fraser, 

172 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


it  seems,  indeed,  as  if  a  certain  type  of  beauty 
had  passed  away. 

No  woman  lost  any  fraction  of  the  exquisite- 
ness  and  delicacy  of  her  loveliness  at  the  hands 
of  our  early  painters,  and  even  if  they  some- 
times accentuated  these  characteristics,  in 
days  when  Stella  scorned  the  thought  of  being 

as  robustuous  as  a  man,''  these  artists,  many 
of  them  being  good  limners,  must  have  had 
some  authority  for  a  type  that  runs  through 
most  of  the  work  of  the  period.  The  days  of 
our  grandmothers  being  not  far  removed  from 
those  of  Evelina,''  when  fainting  was  still  in 
vogue,  when  a  vigorous  appetite  among  women 
was  not  as  highly  commended  as  it  is  to-day, 
and  before  croquet,  tennis,  golf,  and  bicycles 
had  begun  to  beguile  women  into  the  open,  it 
seems  not  unreasonable  to  believe  that  the 
type  of  beauty  was  in  that  earlier  time  more 
delicate  than  it  is  to-day.  While  we  may  not 
be  in  sympathy  with  the  men  and  women  of 
an  older  generation,  who,  when  confronted 
with  the  charms  of  a  blushing  dibutante^  ex- 
claim, with  a  wistful  sadness  in  their  eyes, 
**Yes,  charming;  but  she  does  not  compare 
with  her  grandmother;  shev^z.^  a  rare  beauty," 
we  are  willing  to  believe  that  there  is  some- 
thing more  than  the  glamour  of  the  past  in 
these  recollections. 

Women  may  be,  and  probably  are,  quite  as 
beautiful  to-day  as  they  were  fifty  or  one 
hundred  years  ago,  but  their  beauty  is  of  a 
different  quality,  depending  less  upon  delicacy 

173 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  features  and  complexion  and  more  upon 
expression  and  individuality.  Even  with  this 
admission,  a  generous  margin  should  be  al- 
lowed for  the  exercise  of  the  creative  faculty 
of  the  artist, — for  the  temptation  which  assails 
every  artistic  nature  to  produce  a  beautiful 
picture.  This  extenuating  grace  should  be 
especially  applied  to  miniature  work,  in  which 
exquisiteness  of  complexion  and  detail  adds 
sensibly  to  the  delicate  beauty  of  the  face  rep- 
resented. 

A  celebrated  French  miniaturist,  when  in-f 
terrogated  with  regard  to  the  probability  of 
the  newly  invented  photograph  superseding 
the  miniature,  replied,  with  a  fine  understand- 
ing of  human  nature,  even  if  his  soul  was  not 
prophetic,  ''No,  madame,  there  is  no  dangere; 
the  photograph  does  not  flattqre.'' 

However  much  or  little  those  beautiful  ladies, 
our  grandmothers,  owe  to  their  limners,  they 
are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  fact  that  their 
charms  have  been  preserved  for  this  genera- 
tion by  the  brush  of  the  artist  rather  than  by 
the  uncompromising  touch  of  the  sun-god,  be 
he  never  so  truthful. 

As  early  as  the  days  of  the  Revolution,  a 
distinct  type  of  American  beauty  had  appeared, 
which  proved  dangerous  to  the  hearts  of  many 
of  the  British  officers  who  were  stationed  in 
New  York  during  the  long  occupation  of  that 
city  by  the  enemy,  and  in  Philadelphia  during 
their  shorter  reign  there,  in  the  winter  of  1777 
and  1778.    To  our  French  allies  the  charm  of 

174 


Mrs.  William  W.  Young 
By  George  Hewitt  Cushman 
Page  214 


Mrs.  Richard  Worsam  Meade 
By  George  A.  Baker 
Page  202 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


American  womanhood  also  appealed  most  elo- 
quently. Mary  Vining,  of  Wilmington,  Del- 
aware, was  long  a  toast  among  the  French 
officers  who  met  her,  as  was  Miss  Margaret 
Champlin,  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  Miss 
Champlin,  or  Miss  Peggy,''  as  she  was 
known  among  her  friends,  was  a  daughter  of 
Colonel  Christopher  Champlin  and  a  great- 
granddaughter  of  the  philanthropic  Abraham 
Redwood,  who  early  founded  a  library  in 
Newport.  Miss  Peggy"  wounded  her  vic- 
tims, foreign  and  domestic,  with  the  ruth- 
lessness  which  belonged  to  her  age  and  sex 
before  she  finally  bestowed  her  heart  and 
hand  upon  her  fellow-townsman.  Dr.  Benja- 
min Mason. 

Of  Miss  Champlin  the  Prince  de  Broglie 
wrote  :  That  same  evening  M.  Vauban  intro- 
duced us  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Champlin,  well 
known  for  his  wealth,  but  much  more  known 
in  the  army  for  the  lovely  face  of  his  daughter. 
It  is  useless  to  say  that  we  examined  her  with 
attention,  which  was  to  treat  her  handsomely, 
for  the  result  of  our  observations  was  to  find 
that  she  had  beautiful  eyes,  an  agreeable 
mouth,  a  lovely  face,  a  fine  figure,  a  pretty 
foot,  and  the  general  effect  altogether  at- 
tractive. She  added  to  all  these  advantages 
that  of  being  dressed  and  coiffee  with  taste, 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  French  fashion, — besides 
which,  she  spoke  and  understood  our  lan- 
guage." 

Margaret  Champlin,  in  addition  to  being  a 
175 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


belle  and  a  beauty,  was  a  good  patriot  and  one 
of  the  original  members  of  the  Daughters  of 
Liberty/' 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  Thomas  Sully,  who 
was  especially  happy  in  representing  the  inno- 
cent loveliness  of  early  youth  and  the  charm 
of  refined  womanhood,  should  have  painted 
no  miniatures  in  the  maturity  of  his  powers. 
That  Mr.  Sully  did  paint  miniatures  early  in 
his  career  is  proved  by  a  number  of  notes  in 
his  diary.  In  the  artist's  own  fine,  exact  hand- 
writing we  read  the  following  entries : 

•*  Begun.  Size.  Price.  Finished. 

x8oi.  x8oi. 

May  13,  Miniature,  Chester  Sully,  in  Nor- 
folk, Virga,  being  my 
first  attempt  from 
life.    For  Mary  Lee  15  June  ist 

June  5,        Miniature,  Madame  Solage,  of 

Norfolk  15  June  8th 

June  8,  Do. hands,  Sophia  Sully,  daugh- 
ter of  Matthew 
Sully,  Jr  20  June  igth 

June  20,      Miniature,  Mr.    White,  Glass 

merchant,  Norfolk  .  15  July  20th 

July  22,       Ditto,        Captain  Bills    .    .    .15  July  25th 

August  I  St,  Ditto,        Dudley  Woodworth  .  15  August  5th 

August  5th,  Ditto,        Monr  Ott,  Jeweler    .  15  August  10 

August  25,  Ditto,  Thomas  Armstead 
(from  a  sketch)  Rich- 
mond  15  August  29 

Deer  6,  Ditto,  A  Lady,  from  de- 
scription: for  Wm 
Southerwood  ...  20  Dec^  12 

Decry,        Ditto,        Mrs.  Rebecca  Cook,  in 

Richmond,  Virginia  15  Dec^  14 
176 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


l802. 

Jany  5, 
March  7, 

1803. 
June  8, 
5» 


Miniature,  Miss  Maria  Allison 
Miniature,  Elizabeth  New  .  . 

Miniature,  Mrs.  Johnston  .  . 
Ditto,        Mrs.  Jennings  .  . 


X802. 

15  Jan.  loth 
15  March  13th 

X803. 
15  June  13 
15  June  10" 


After  1806  no  miniatures  are  entered  in  the 
diary,  although  notes  are  made  of  many  busts, 
kit-cats,  and  full-length  portraits.  The  artist's 
miniature  work  was  probably  begun  while  he 
was  working  in  the  studio  of  his  elder  brother, 
Lawrence,  who  was  a  miniature  and  device 
painter.  Lawrence  Sully  painted  for  some 
years  in  Norfolk  and  Richmond,  but  never 
with  great  success. 

The  paternal  SuUys  were  English  comedians, 
who  were,  says  Mr.  Dunlap,  induced  by  West, 
the  manager  of  several  theatres  in  the  South, 
to  remove  to  the  United  States  when  Thomas 
was  a  boy  of  nine. 

The  futility  of  any  attempt  to  turn  aside  true 
genius  from  its  predestined  course  is  illus- 
trated by  the  careers  of  Thomas  Sully  and  his 
schoolmate,  Charles  Fraser.  At  school  their 
little  heads  were  bent  over  their  desks,  more 
intent  upon  making  sketches  upon  the  fly- 
leaves of  their  books,  or  upon  precious  scraps 
of  paper,  than  upon  the  tasks  set  them.  Later 
we  find  Fraser  working  in  a  lawyer's  office, 
his  thoughts  in  the  clouds,  while  poor  Sully  so 
annoyed  the  broker  with  whom  he  was  placed 
by  his  father,  that  he  complained  to  Mr.  Sully 
that,  although  his  son  was  industrious  in  multi- 
12  177 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


plying  figures,  they  were  always  the  figures  of 
men  and  women,  and  that  he  could  not  pick 
up  a  scrap  of  paper  in  his  office  without  having 
a  face  stare  at  him  from  its  surface.  Mr.  Sully 
wisely  decided  to  remove  the  boy  from  Mr. 
Meyer's  office,  and  placed  him  in  the  care  of 
Mr.  Belzons,  a  miniature  painter,  in  Charles- 
ton. Mr.  Belzons  proved  himself  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  so  violent  a  temper  that  young 
Sully  fled  from  his  studio  and  took  refuge  with 
his  brother  Lawrence,  who  was  living  in  Nor- 
folk. He  afterwards,  through  the  kindness  of 
Thomas  A.  Cooper,  lessee  and  manager  of  the 
New  York  Theatre,  was  able  to  open  a  studio 
in  New  York.  Here  Sully  had  some  lessons 
from  Colonel  John  Trumbull  and  from  John 
Wesley  Jarvis. 

This  most  erratic  and  irresponsible  genius, 
who  bore  the  name  of  his  uncle,  the  great  John 
Wesley,  was  at  one  time  spoken  of  as  the  best 
portrait  painter  in  New  York.  In  early  life 
Jarvis  had  had  lessons  from  Clark  in  Phila- 
delphia, from  old  Matthew  Pratt,  and  from 
Rutter,  a  sign  painter,  while  he  was  encour- 
aged to  pursue  his  studies  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Rush  and  Edward  Malbone,  both  of  whom 
were  quick  to  recognize  his  undoubted  ability. 
Malbone,  while  in  New  York,  gave  instruc- 
tions in  his  own  methods  to  Jarvis  and  Joseph 
Wood,  from  the  preparation  of  the  ivory  to  the 
finishing  of  the  picture.  These  artists  occu- 
pied a  studio  in  New  York,  on  Park  Row,  near 
Beekman  Street,  and  here  it  probably  was  that 

178 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Sully  had  lessons  from  Jarvis.  Joseph  Wood 
applied  himself  exclusively  to  miniature  work, 
but  Jarvis  painted  a  number  of  full-length  por- 
traits of  military  and  naval  heroes.  He  also 
invented  a  machine  for  drawing  profiles  on 
glass,  which  he  executed  in  black  and  gold 
leaf,  shadowed  a  little  by  hatching.  These 
profiles  were  sold  for  five  dollars  each,  and 
while  they  were  a  novelty,  Jarvis  and  Wood, 
who  worked  at  them  together,  sometimes  made 
a  hundred  dollars  a  day. 

Later,  about  1814,  Jarvis  had  a  studio  in  a 
house  on  Broadway  that  had  been  designed 
for  President  Washington  and  was  afterwards 
used  by  Governor  Clinton.  In  this  large  house, 
which,  says  Mr.  Dunlap,  was  divided  between 
the  Collector  of  Customs,  Jarvis,  and  the 
gods,  this  artist  executed  a  number  of  large 
portraits.  Henry  Inman  was  his  pupil  at 
this  time,  and  in  New  York  and  during  these 
Southern  tours  Jarvis  would  receive  a  half- 
dozen  sitters  a  day.  He  painted  the  faces 
and  then  handed  over  the  portraits  to  Inman, 
who  worked  up  the  background  and  drapery 
under  the  master's  direction.  Although  Jarvis 
painted  industriously  at  times  and  did  some 
excellent  work,  he  saved  no  money  and  died 
in  abject  poverty.*  He  was  unstable  and  im- 
provident, and  readily  yielded  to  the  many 
temptations  offered  him,  being  possessed  of  a 
most  convivial  nature  and  so  gifted  as  a  racon- 


*  Dunlap's  "  History  of  the  Arts  of  Design." 
179 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


teur  and  as  a  singer  that  he  was  sought  after 
and  made  much  of  in  the  days  of  his  pros- 
perity. Washington  Irving  wrote  of  him  from 
Baltimore  in  1811 : 

By  the  bye,  that  little  *  hydra  and  chimera 
dire,'  Jarvis,  is  in  prodigious  circulation  at 
Baltimore.  The  gentlemen  have  all  voted  him 
a  rare  wag  and  most  brilliant  wit ;  and  the 
ladies  pronounce  him  one  of  the  queerest, 
ugliest,  most  agreeable  little  creatures  in  the 
world.  The  consequence  is  there  is  not  a  ball, 
tea-party,  concert,  supper,  or  other  private 
regale  but  that  Jarvis  is  the  most  conspicuous 
personage  ;  and  as  to  a  dinner,  they  can  no 
more  do  without  him  than  they  could  without 
Friar  John  at  the  roystering  revels  of  the  re- 
nowned Pantagruel." 

That  the  gay  world  of  Baltimore  regarded 
art  and  artists  in  a  very  different  light  from 
that  in  which  they  were  viewed  in  Albany  a 
little  earlier  is  evident,  if  we  may  judge  from 
a  story  related  to  Mr.  Dunlap  by  a  friend  who 
lived  in  the  latter  city :  "  At  a  time  of  yellow 
fever  in  New  York,  two  miniature  painters, 
Trott  and  Tisdale,  came  to  this  city ;  they 
took  a  room  and  painted  some  heads.  This 
was  about  the  year  '96.  It  was  a  novelty,  and 
the  gentlemen  of  Albany  visited  the  painters 
and  were  pleased  with  them  ;  and  on  occasion 
of  a  ball  they  were  getting  up,  they  sent  them 
tickets  of  invitation.  But  before  the  ball  took 
place  they  had  time  to  reflect  and  consult ;  and 
the  result  was,  that  a  note  was  written  to  the 

180 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


painters  to  say  that  the  gentlemen  of  Albany 
must  recall  the  invitation,  as,  according  to  the 
rules,  no  mechanics  could  be  admitted/' 

About  1804,  Mr.  Lawrence  Sully  died,  and 
although  his  brother  was  at  that  time  working 
hard  towards  the  fulfilment  of  a  long-cherished 
plan  to  visit  London,  he  set  aside  his  own  wishes 
and  devoted  his  time  and  talents  to  the  care  of 
his  sister-in-law  and  her  three  little  daughters. 
More  than  a  year  after  his  brother's  death, 
Thomas  Sully  married  his  widow  and  became 
the  legal  protector  of  the  children  over  whom 
he  had  always  exercised  a  fatherly  care.  Mrs. 
Sully  was  a  young  and  very  beautiful  woman. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  Mr.  Sully  took  his 
wife  to  Colonel  Trumbull's  rooms  to  sit  for 
her  portrait,  that  he  might  observe  that  artist's 
mode  of  painting  and  have  an  example  of  his 
work.  He  afterwards  had  some  lessons  from 
Gilbert  Stuart  in  Boston,  who,  upon  looking 
long  and  carefully  at  a  portrait  of  Mr.  Isaac  P. 
Davis  which  the  young  artist  had  just  finished, 
uttered  the  following  oracular  advice :  "  Keep 
what  you  have,  and  get  as  much  as  you  can." 

Mr.  Sully  is  described  as  slight  in  figure, 
delicate  in  appearance,  and  strikingly  hand- 
some. His  daughter  says  that  he  was  never 
well  in  New  York,  and  that  an  acquaintance 
whom  he  met  on  the  street  one  day  said: 

Come  over  to  Philadelphia;  that  quiet  little 
Quaker  city  will  suit  you."  Mr.  Sully  took  his 
friend's  advice,  his  health  improved  in  the 
milder  air  of  the  inland  town,  and  his  fortunes 

181 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


also,  as  many  sitters  came  to  his  studio,  which 
he  shared  with  Benjamin  Trott.  After  se- 
curing a  number  of  orders  for  pictures,  through 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Wilcocks,  of 
Philadelphia,  who  was  his  generous  friend  and 
patron,  Mr.  Sully  set  sail  for  London,  leaving 
his  family  in  Philadelphia.  In  London  he 
found  Benjamin  West  painting  at  seventy,  and 
as  ready  to  receive  and  befriend  a  struggling 
American  artist  as  in  his  younger  days.  Sully 
also  met  Sir  William  Beechey,  Sir  Thomas  Law- 
rence, and  John  Hoppner,  while  letters  from 
Mr.  John  Hare  Powel,  of  Philadelphia,  gave 
him  an  entree  to  rich  private  collections  among 
the  nobility  and  gentry.  Sully's  expressions 
upon  the  work  of  some  of  the  London  Acade- 
micians show  that  even  at  an  early  age  his 
tastes  were  decided.  Gainsborough's  man- 
ner,'' he  says,  in  describing  the  paintings 
deposited  by  artists  in  the  Royal  Academy, 
"struck  me  as  being  exactly  as  Reynolds  de- 
scribes it.  There  is  some  resemblance  to  it  in 
Stuart's  manner,  only  that  Stuart  is  firmer  in 
the  handling.  His  dead  colourings  seem  cool 
and  afterwards  retouched  with  warm  colours, 
used  thin  so  as  to  resemble  the  freedom  of 
water-colour  painting.  Many  light  touches  of 
greenish  and  yellow  tints  are  freely  used,  and 
although  on  inspection  the  work  looks  rugged 
and  smeared,  and  scratched,  yet,  at  a  distance, 
it  appeared  to  me  the  most  natural  flesh  in 
the  room.  The  specimens  of  Reynolds's  pencil 
disappointed,  and  Opie's  seemed  raw,  crude, 

182 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  dirty.  Copley  more  hard  and  dark  than 
usual.  Lawrence's  too  much  loaded  with 
paint,  and  the  red  and  yellow  overpowering. 
The  ceiling  of  this  room  is  painted  by  West  and 
Angelica  Kauffmann,  by  far  the  most  delicate 
colouring  I  have  yet  seen  of  the  President's, 
and  Angelica  has  closely  imitated  it." 

Charles  B.  King  was  in  London  when  Sully 
arrived  there,  and  gave  him  a  warm  welcome. 
A  similarity  of  tastes  soon  drew  these  two 
American  artists  together.  King  had  been 
studying  some  years  abroad,  and,  anxious  to 
have  Sully  profit  by  his  experience,  frankly 
inquired  how  long  he  expected  to  study  in 
London  and  how  much  money  he  had.  When 
he  learned  that  the  young  American  expected 
to  live  in  London  three  years  and  had  only  four 
hundred  dollars  in  the  world,  he  exclaimed, 
*'Why,  my  good  sir,  that  is  not  enough  for 
three  months — I'll  tell  you  what — I  am  not 
ready  to  go  home^ — my  funds  are  almost  ex- 
pended, and  before  I  saw  you  I  had  been  con- 
triving a  plan  to  spin  them  out,  and  give  me 
more  time.    Can  you  live  low  All  I  want 

is  bread  and  water."  Oh,  then  you  may  live 
luxuriously,  for  we  will  add  potatoes  and  milk 
to  it.  It  will  do ;  we  will  hire  these  rooms, 
they  will  serve  us  both — we  will  buy  a  stock 
of  potatoes — take  in  bread  and  milk  daily — 
keep  our  landlady  in  good  humour,  and  (by 
the  by)  conceal  from  her  the  motive  for  our 
mode  of  life  by  a  little  present  now  and  then, 
and — work  away  like  merry  fellows." 

183 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


And  so  they  did/'  says  Mr.  Dunlap,  **thus 
making  themselves  excellent  artists  by  a  sys- 
tem of  labor,  economy,  and  independence,  as 
honorable  as  it  was  efficacious/* 

At  the  end  of  nine  months,  Mr.  Sully,  having 
accomplished  all  that  he  had  set  out  to  do, 
returned  to  America.  When  he  took  leave  of 
Benjamin  West,  who  had  treated  him  like  a 
son,  the  old  artist  begged  him  upon  his  return 
to  Pennsylvania  to  visit  his  old  home,  his  dear 
native  place,  Springfield.  Inquire  for  Spring- 
field Meeting  House,''  said  the  old  man  ;  two 
miles  from  where  the  road  crosses,  you  will 
find  the  house." 

Sully  found  the  old  house,  and  made  two 
sketches  of  it,  which  he  sent  to  Mr.  West. 
When  Mr.  Sully  returned  to  Philadelphia,  he 
again  occupied  a  studio  with  Benjamin  Trott. 
Here  he  was  for  many  years  a  most  popular 
artist,  and  as  a  man  greatly  respected  and 
beloved,  being  possessed  of  an  amiable,  gener- 
ous, and  benevolent  nature. 

Miss  Blanche  Sully,  who  is  still  living  in 
Philadelphia,  relates  many  interesting  stories 
of  her  father  and  mother.  She  says  that  her 
father  never  could  pass  any  one  in  the  street 
in  trouble  without  stopping  to  help  him,  while 
her  mother  was  so  tender-hearted  that  when 
she  was  walking  with  her  she  has  often  seen 
her  stop  and  buy  food  for  some  starving  alley 
cat  or  dog.  Miss  Sully  says  that  her  father 
painted  most  industriously  through  the  hours 
of  daylight,  but  as  soon  as  the  light  began  to 

184 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


fade  he  would  call  for  Blanche,  whom  he  play- 
fully called  his  walking-stick,''  and  together 
they  would  sally  forth  for  a  ramble  into  the 
country,  which  was  not  so  difficult  to  reach  in 
those  days.  They  once  walked  to  German- 
town  and  back  in  an  afternoon,  she  says,  a 
walk  of  some  length  from  her  father's  house, 
on  Fifth  Street  below  Market. 

Of  Mr.  Sully's  second  visit  to  London,  in 
1838,  when  he  was  commissioned  to  paint  a 
portrait  of  Queen  Victoria  for  the  Saint  George 
Society  in  Philadelphia,  Miss  Sully  gives  a 
charming  and  spirited  description.  She  says 
that  when  she  was  about  fifteen  her  father's 
health  broke  down.  She  recalls  one  evening 
when  he  came  home  looking  very  serious,  and 
after  supper  said  to  her  mother  that  he  had 
something  of  importance  to  tell  her.  Mrs.  Sully 
was  much  alarmed,  fearing  that  the  physi- 
cian's opinion  had  been  unfavorable.  When 
her  husband  told  her  that  a  sea  voyage  had 
been  prescribed  for  him,  she  exclaimed  cheer- 
fully. You  must  go,  but  you  shall  not  go 
alone."  **Very  well,"  he  said,  I  will  take 
my  walking-stick  with  me."  Miss  Sully  says 
that  she  well  remembers  her  keen  delight  at 
the  prospect  of  seeing  so  much  of  the  world, 
mingled  with  her  childish  grief  at  leaving  her 
dear  mother. 

Mr.  Sully  took  with  him  several  letters  of 
introduction ;  but  for  some  time  it  seemed 
doubtful  whether  he  would  be  able  to  secure 
a  sitting  from  the  Queen,  as  he  was  told  that 

185 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


she  was  heartily  tired  of  sitting  for  her  por- 
trait. 

One  day,  says  Miss  Sully,  a  very  elegant 
gentleman.  Sir  Francis  Egerton,  came  to  their 
lodgings.  It  soon  appeared  that  Miss  Kemble,* 
the  great  English  tragedienne,  who  was  then  act- 
ing in  Philadelphia  with  her  father,  had  written 
to  Sir  Francis  Egerton  to  bespeak  his  good 
offices  for  Mr.  Sully,  After  this  there  were  no 
difficulties  in  the  way^  the  Queen  received  the 
artist,  and  a  sitting  was  arranged.  The  young 
Queen  was  naturally  much  occupied  in  holding 
audiences,  but  made  every  effort  to  give  Mr. 
Sully  the  desired  sittings.  When  he  asked  if 
such  an  hour  would  suit  Her  Majesty,  she 
replied,  It  shall  suit  my  Majesty,"  adding 
that  she  felt  it  a  graceful  compliment  that  the 
Americans  should  desire  to  have  her  portrait, 
quite  overlooking  the  fact  that  those  who  had 
ordered  the  picture  were  not  Americans,  but 
loyal  subjects  of  Her  Majesty  residing  in  the 
United  States,  The  Queen  gave  Mr,  Sully 
three  or  four  sittings,  after  which  he  told  her 
that  he  did  not  need  to  have  her  sit  any  longer, 
and  asked  her  if  she  would  allow  him  to  have 
his  daughter  take  her  place,  as  she  was  so 
much  in  the  habit  of  posing  for  him  that  she 


*  Mr.  Sully  had  already  painted  portraits  of  Frances 
Anne  Kemble,  who  afterwards  married  Mr.  Pierce  Butler, 
of  Philadelphia,  and  of  her  father,  Mr.  Charles  Kemble, 
who  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Siddons.  These  portraits  now 
belong  to  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  the  Fine  Arts. 

i86 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


could  sit  as  still  as  a  log,  and  appreciated  the  im- 
portance of  keeping  perfectly  quiet  while  jewels 
were  being  painted,  on  account  of  the  changing 
light  upon  the  stones.  The  Queen  gave  her 
consent,  and  when  the  artist  returned  to  his 
lodgings  and  told  Miss  Blanche  that  she  was  to 
accompany  him  to  the  palace  the  next  day,  that 
young  lady  was  in  a  state  of  wild  excitement. 
She  remembers  that,  having  left  home  in  a 
great  hurry,  she  had  only  one  silk  gown  with 
her,  which  she  describes  as  "an  ugly  thing, 
green  striped  with  black.'*  The  despised  gown 
was  donned,  little  knowing  the  honor  that  was 
in  store  for  it,  and  Miss  Blanche,  feeling  like 
the  heroine  of  a  fairy  tale,  set  forth  with  her 
father  to  the  palace.*  Even  now,  after  the 
lapse  of  more  than  half  a  century.  Miss  Sully 
recalls  her  feelings  of  delight  and  wonder  as 
she  passed  through  the  beautiful  marble  halls 
of  the  palace,  and  through  a  handsome,  large 
room,  in  which  were  portraits  of  many  dead- 
and-gone  kings  and  queens,  into  a  smaller 
room  where  were  more  bell-pulls  than  she  had 
ever  seen  in  all  her  life.  This  smaller  room 
was  used  by  the  Queen's  ladies  in  waiting,  and 


*  The  palace  to  which  Miss  Sully  refers  must  be  Buck- 
ingham Palace,  as  upon  a  picture  of  Queen  Victoria,  which 
Mr.  Sully  kept  in  his  studio,  was  the  following  inscription : 
"  My  Original  Study  of  the  Queen  of  England,  Victoria, 
painted  from  life,  Buckingham  House.**  This  picture  was 
signed  T.  S.,  London,  May  15,  1838.  The  large  portrait  of 
Queen  Victoria,  painted  at  this  time,  is  in  the  hall  of  the 
Saint  George  Society,  Philadelphia. 

187 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  bells  were  to  summon  the  various  pages 
and  attendants.  Mr.  Sully  had  not  told  his 
daughter  that  she  was  to  sit  for  him,  and  great 
was  the  surprise  of  little  Miss  Blanche  when 
she  was  suddenly  raised  to  the  throne  of  Eng- 
land and  arrayed  in  the  Queen's  robes,  with 
the  royal  crown  upon  her  head.  Although  the 
head  that  wears  a  crown  is  said  to  lie  uneasy, 
Miss  Sully  says  that  this  crown,  which  was 
adorned  with  many  beautiful  jewels,  did  not 
cause  her  any  uneasiness,  being  no  heavier 
than  an  ordinary  velvet  hat. 

After  she  had  been  sitting  for,  what  seemed 
to  her,  a  long  time,  the  doors  were  suddenly 
thrown  open  with  a  great  flourish,  and  the 
Queen  was  announced.  From  no  person  do 
we  get  a  more  interesting  picture  of  the  fresh, 
joyous  young  Queen  than  comes  to  us  from 
this  other  girVs  recollections  of  her.  She  says 
that  she  was  not  pretty,  but  had  a  lovely  com- 
plexion and  golden-brown  hair,  which  was 
drawn  away  from  her  face  and  gathered  in  a 
large  knot  at  the  back  of  her  head.  The  royal 
young  lady  looked  at  Miss  Blanche  sitting  in 
her  regalia,  made  a  low  reverence,  and  laughed, 
after  which  she  glanced  at  her  own  gown,  then 
at  Miss  Sully's,  and  laughed  again;  the  two 
dresses  were,  says  the  narrator,  precisely  alike, 
except  that  the  green  and  black  stripes  were 
wider  on  that  of  the  Queen.  Miss  Sully  de- 
scribes the  Queen's  manners  as  gracious,  and 
her  conversation,  when  she  talked  with  her 
father,  as  delightful.    Her  youthful  Majesty 

i88 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


must  have  had  a  sympathetic  feeling  for  a 
young  appetite,  as  she  ordered  refreshments 
for  Miss  Blanche,  which  she  had  never  done  for 
her  father.  Miss  Sully  recalls  the  golden  sal- 
vers upon  which  the  refreshments  were  served, 
the  handsome  tea  service,  and  the  beautiful 
cut-glass  tumblers  set  in  stands  of  gold  filigree. 
There  were  so  many  queen  cakes  in  the  basket 
that  was  handed  to  her,  that  she  asked  her 
father  if  the  Queen  lived  on  queen  cakes.  She, 
poor  child,  was  so  awed  by  the  strangeness  and 
magnificence  of  her  surroundings  that  she  could 
not  eat  a  morsel  of  the  dainties  offered  her. 

One  of  Mr.  Sully's  step-daughters  painted 
miniatures.  An  interesting  example  of  the 
work  of  Rosalie  Sully  is  a  miniature  of  her 
mother,  copied  from  one  of  Mr.  Sully's  por- 
traits of  his  wife,  which  was  painted  in  her 
early  matronhood.  A  daughter  of  Mr.  Sully 
married  the  well-known  artist  Mr.  F.  O.  C. 
Darley,  while  his  step-daughter,  Mary  Chester 
Sully,  became  the  wife  of  Mr.  John  Neagle.* 
Mr.  Neagle,  of  whose  work  his  "  Pat  Lyon  at 
the  Forge"  is  one  of  the  best  examples,  painted 
a  number  of  portraits.    Among  these  a  most 


^  As  Mr.  Sully's  step-daughters  were  also  his  nieces, 
they  were  like  his  own  children.  Rosalie  Sully's  minia- 
tures, which  were  painted  chiefly  for  her  friends,  are  so 
beautiful  in  drawing  and  color  that  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  she  did  not  pursue  the  art  of  miniature  painting. 
Mary  Chester  Sully,  who  married  Mr.  Neagle,  had  no 
taste  for  drawing  or  painting,  but  was  a  musician  of  con- 
siderable ability. 

189 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


interesting  one  of  Gilbert  Stuart  is  now  in  the 
Boston  Athenaeum. 

The  artistic  ability  of  the  Peale  brothers  did 
not  end  with  their  day  and  generation,  but 
was  inherited  by  children  and  grandchildren. 
Rembrandt  Peale  was,  in  the  opinion  of  some 
art  critics,  the  best  portrait  painter  in  his 
family.  He  painted  early  enough  to  be  able 
to  execute  a  portrait  of  Washington  from  life, 
and  in  the  first  half  of  this  century  painted  a 
number  of  portraits  in  France  and  in  America. 
Among  these  is  a  portrait  of  Houdon,  the  great 
French  sculptor,  and  of  the  Honorable  Richard 
Peters,  of  Belmont.  An  excellent  example  of 
Rembrandt  Peale^s  work  is  a  portrait  of  two 
young  daughters  of  Mr.  Lawrence  Johnson, 
of  Philadelphia,  which  is  charming  in  color 
and  in  the  grace  and  naturalness  of  the  pose 
of  the  childish  figures. 

Raphaelle  Peale,  another  son  of  Charles 
Willson  Peale,  painted  miniatures,  as  did  his 
cousin,  Anna  Claypoole  Peale,  a  daughter  of 
James  Peale,  the  miniature  painter. 

Anna  C.  Peale,  who  was  one  of  the  best 
miniature  painters  of  her  day,  inherited  her 
artistic  talents  from  her  maternal  grandfather, 
James  Claypoole,  as  well  as  from  her  father's 
family.  She  executed  a  large  number  of  por- 
traits in  miniature  in  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
New  York,  and  Washington.  Miss  Peale 
married  the  Reverend  William  Staughton, 
D.D.,  a  very  popular  preacher  in  his  day,  and 
some  years  after  his  death  became  the  third 

I  go 


Madame  Lallemand  Mrs.  Richard  Harlan 

By  Anna  Claypoole  Peale 
Page  191 


Angelica  Vallaye 
By  Anna  Claypoole  Peale 
Page  191 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


wife  of  General  William  Duncan.  The  fact 
that  this  artist  painted  under  her  different 
names  has  led  to  some  confusion  in  classify- 
ing her  work,  although  some  of  Anna  Peale's 
miniatures  have  all  three  names  written  on  the 
backs.  One,  of  Angelica  Vallaye,  is  marked 
"  Miniature  of  Angelica  Vallaye,  by  Anna  Peale, 
widow  Dr.  Staughton,  also  widow  of  General 
Duncan,''  which  is  certainly  sufficiently  ex- 
plicit. Another  portrait  is  marked  Minia- 
ture by  Anna  Duncan,  n^e  Anna  Peale,  of  the 
daughter  of  Stephen  Girard's  brother,  M""®- 
Lallemand  (Agnes  Clark)."* 

Anna  C.  Peale  also  painted  miniatures  of 
General  Lallemand,  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
P.  Dexter,  of  Massachusetts,  of  Commodore 
Bainbridge,  and  of  General  and  Mrs.  Andrew 
Jackson.  The  latter  miniature  was  painted  in 
1819,  when  Mrs.  Jackson  was  fifty-two  years 
of  age,  and  in  the  costume  worn  by  her  at  a 
ball  given  to  General  Jackson  in  New  Orleans, 
after  the  victory  of  the  eighth  of  January .f 


*  This  miniature  is  incorrectly  marked,  as  Madame  Lal- 
lemand's  name  was  Harriet.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Jean 
Girard,  a  brother  of  Stephen  Girard,  the  founder  of  Girard 
College,  Philadelphia.  Harriet  Girard,  when  very  young, 
married  Henri  Dominique  Lallemand,  one  of  Napoleon's 
exiled  generals,  who  had  followed  his  commander's  fortunes 
through  the  Hundred  Days  and  fought  at  Waterloo.  Gen- 
eral Lallemand  died  in  1823,  and  his  young  widow  married 
Dr.  John  Y.  Clark,  of  Philadelphia. 

f  "  Life  Portraits  of  Andrew  Jackson,"  by  Charles  Henry 
Hart. 

191 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


The  story  of  Jackson's  marriage  to  Rachel 
Donelson,  the  wife  of  Lewis  Robards,  upon 
the  false  report  of  her  having  been  divorced 
from  her  first  husband,  has  often  been  told. 
Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson  Lawrence,  the  great-niece 
of  Mrs.  Jackson,  recalls  many  instances  of 
the  General's  sincere  devotion  to  the  memory 
of  his  wife.  The  miniature  of  Mrs.  Jackson  by 
Anna  C.  Peale  was  given  to  this  little  great- 
niece  and  adopted  granddaughter,  a  proof  of 
his  deep  affection  for  the  child,  as  the  General 
had  always  worn  it  next  his  heart. 

Another  miniature  painted  by  Miss  Peale 
about  the  same  time  as  that  of  Mrs.  Andrew 
Jackson  is  that  of  Margaret  Hart  Simmons. 
This  miniature  was  painted  before  Miss 
Simmons's  marriage  to  Richard  Harlan.  Dr. 
Harlan  was  well  known  in  the  scientific  world, 
being  connected  with  many  learned  societies 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  numbered  among  his 
friends  and  correspondents  the  great  Cuvier, 
Audubon,  and  many  other  scientists  and  nat- 
ural historians.  Mrs.  Harlan  was  interested 
in  her  husband's  pursuits,  and  greatly  enjoyed 
the  visits  made  to  their  home  by  his  learned 
associates. 

Sarah  M.  Peale,  another  daughter  of  James 
Peale,  painted  portraits  in  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, Washington,  and  St.  Louis.  Sarah 
Peale's  work  is  spoken  of  in  Mrs.  Clement's 

Artists  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,"  although 
she  was  a  less  distinguished  artist  than  her 
sister  Anna,  whose  name  is  omitted. 

192 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Another  woman  artist  who  has  preserved 
for  us  in  miniature  the  beauty  of  our  grand- 
mothers is  Anne  Hall.  The  daughter  of  a 
Connecticut  physician,  and  without  having 
had  the  advantage  of  foreign  study,  Miss  Hall 
executed  some  admirable  work,  which  entitled 
her  to  be  enrolled  as  one  of  the  first  women 
members  of  the  National  Academy  in  New 
York. 

Miss  Hall  took  some  lessons  in  oil-painting 
from  Alexander  Robertson,  and,  having  had 
instruction  in  miniature  painting  from  Mn 
Samuel  King,  of  Newport,*  devoted  herself 
exclusively  to  that  branch  of  art.  Among  Miss 
Hairs  portraits  in  miniature  is  one  of  Mrs. 
Henry  Van  Rensselaer,  of  New  York,  born 
Elizabeth  Ray  King.  This  charming  miniature, 
which  now  belongs  to  Mrs.  Van  Rensselaer's 
daughter,  Mrs.  Francis  Delafield,  of  New 
York,  was  painted  about  1831. 

An  interesting  miniature,  painted  about  1801, 
is  that  of  Elizabeth  Hewson,  a  granddaughter 
of  the  Mrs.  Margaret  Stevenson  with  whom 
Dr.  Franklin  lodged  on  Craven  Street  during 
all  the  years  of  his  London  residence  after 
1757.    Mrs.  Stevenson's  daughter  Mary  is  the 

Polly*'  to  whom  Franklin  wrote  long  and 

*  Samuel  King  may  readily  be  confused  with  Charles  B. 
King,  who  was  also  born  in  Newport,  the  latter  in  1785. 
Charles  B.  King  studied  with  West  in  London,  and  painted 
portraits  in  Philadelphia,  but,  not  succeeding  there,  estab- 
lished his  studio  in  Washington,  where  he  became  very 
popular  and  built  a  house  and  gallery. 
13  193 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


interesting  letters,  and  from  whom  he  received 
many  sprightly  ones  in  reply. 

From  Margate,  in  1769,  Miss  Stevenson  wrote 
to  her  learned  correspondent  of  a  very  sensible 
young  physician,  of  insinuating  address  and 
good  person,  with  whom  she  says  that  she 
was  "  tempted  to  run  off/*  This  young  physi- 
cian may  have  been  the  Dr.  William  Hewson 
whom  Mary  Stevenson  afterwards  married. 
To  Mrs.  William  Hewson  Dr.  Franklin  con- 
tinued to  write  letters  of  friendship  and  coun- 
sel, while  in  the  Bradford  family  a  tiny  set 
of  chessmen  is  preserved  which  the  great 
statesman  and  philosopher  sent  to  little  Eliza- 
beth Hewson,  who  afterwards  married  Mr. 
David  Caldwell,  of  Philadelphia. 

A  woman  whose  lovely  face  has  come  down 
to  this  generation  from  the  brush  of  Freeman 
is  Mrs.  Edward  Biddle.  Few  Philadelphians 
remember  her  as  Jane  Josephine  Sarmiento  or 
as  Mrs.  Craig;  but  there  are  many  who  recall 
Mrs.  Edward  Biddle  when,  as  a  young  matron, 
she  had  the  honor  of  being  considered  one 
of  the  three  most  beautiful  women  in  Phila- 
delphia, the  other  two  being  Mrs.  James  S. 
Wadsworth  and  Mrs.  John  Butler. 

Mrs.  Wadsworth,  a  daughter  of  Mr.  John 
Wharton,  and  wife  of  the  distinguished  Gen- 
eral James  S.  Wadsworth,  was,  perhaps,  the 
most  beautiful  of  the  three  matrons. 

A  lady,  who  remembers  Mrs.  Wadsworth's 
charming  face,  says  that  she  came  into  her 
room  one  day  when  she  was  making  a  Quaker 

194 


Mrs.  Edward  Biddle 
By  George  Freeman 
Page  195 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


cap  for  her  mother.  After  watching  her  until 
it  was  finished,  Mrs.  Wadsworth  said,  Let 
me  try  it  on/'  This  lady  says  that  Mrs.  Wads- 
worth,  with  her  beautiful  face  framed  in  by 
the  simple,  little  muslin  cap,  made  a  picture 
that  would  have  touched  the  hearts  of  Friends 
or  worldlings. 

Mrs.  Edward  Biddle's  beauty  was  enhanced 
by  her  vivacity  and  charm  of  manner.  Her 
changing,  expressive  face  and  ready  wit  ren- 
dered her  most  attractive  to  old  and  young 
alike.  Mrs.  Biddle's  first  husband,  Mr.  Craig, 
was  a  younger  brother  of  Mrs.  Nicholas  Biddle, 
whose  beautiful  portrait  by  Sully  proves  her 
right  to  a  place  among  the  Graces,  while  Mrs. 
Biddle's  second  husband,  Edward  Biddle,  was 
a  son  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Biddle. 

Another  fair  face  that 

" .    .    .    .   bade  the  colors  flow. 
And  made  a  miniature  creation  grow'* 

beneath  the  artist's  brush,  was  that  of  Anne 
Emlen,  who  married  Charles  Willing  Hare, 
of  Philadelphia.  Among  the  numerous  de- 
scendants of  this  beautiful  woman  is  William 
Hobart  Hare,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  one  of  the  great 
missionary  bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church. 

These  lovely  ladies,  who  look  out  upon  the 
busy  world  of  to-day  from  canvases  upon  the 
wall  or  from  the  gold  and  jewelled  setting  of 
the  miniature  case,  are  among  the  few  perma- 
nent possessions  that  have  come  to  us  from 
a  storied  past.    They  speak  to  us  of  a  life 

J95 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


unlike  our  own ;  its  romance  shines  forth  from 
their  beautiful  eyes ;  its  repose  lends  a  charm 
of  languor  to  their  gentle  faces.  They  were 
familiar  with  suffering,  and  bore  sorrows  in 
their  day  and  generation,  but  of  sad  experiences 
their  pictures  carry  no  record.  They  were  all 
beautiful,  most  of  them  were  wise  and  good, 
and  if  not,  de  mortuis  nil  nisi  bonum;''  their 
memories  are  forever  enshrined  for  us  in  an 
atmosphere  of  peace  and  good  will,  as  far  re- 
moved from  the  progress  and  unrest  of  the  life 
of  to-day  as  are  the  angels  above  us. 


X96 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  VII.   SOME  LATER  LIMNERS 

A  LTHOUGH  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
/\  century  miniature  painting  reached  a 
/  \  degree  of  excellence  that  has  never 
since  been  equalled,  some  beautiful  work  was 
done  in  the  two  decades  that  followed,  when 
Staigg,  Ingham,  Freeman,  Cushman,  and 
Brown  were  still  painting.  Miss  Goodridge, 
who  was  a  pet  protigee  and  student  of  Gilbert 
Stuart's,  was  painting  until  1850,  although  her 
best  work  was  done  ten  years  earlier. 

Sarah  Goodridge's  desire  to  draw  and  paint 
was,  like  that  of  Benjamin  West,  so  strong  a 
passion  that  the  difficulties  that  met  her  at 
every  turn  were  powerless  to  chill  her  ardor. 
As  the  Pennsylvania  Quaker  boy  had  made 
pictures  with  whatever  materials  he  could  lay 
his  hands  on,  the  little  New  England  girl 
peeled  off  the  bark  of  the  white  birch  and 
scratched  her  first  designs  upon  its  surface 
with  a  pin.  Paper  was  scarce  and  expensive 
in  those  days,  and  the  birch  bark,  which  came 
to  the  door  upon  great  logs  for  the  fireplaces, 
cost  nothing  but  the  time  and  trouble  needed 
to  prepare  it. 

In  little  books  which  she  made  out  of  this 
bark,  Sarah  Goodridge  sketched  the  faces  of 
her  schoolmates  and  companions.  She  after- 
wards had  some  lessons  from  artists  of  no 

197 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


particular  distinction,  and  while  living  in 
Boston  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Thomas  Apple- 
ton,  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  Gilbert 
Stuart.  The  great  artist  generously  gave  the 
young  girl  the  benefit  of  his  instruction  and 
criticism,  and  delighted  her  by  asking  her  to 
paint  his  miniature.  Stuart,"  says  his  biog- 
rapher, had  two  faces  :  one  full  of  fire  and 
energy,  seen  in  Miss  Goodridge's  miniature  of 
him,  and  the  other  dull  and  heavy,  'looking,* 
as  he  said, — when  he  saw  the  miniature  he  had 
permitted  a  New  York  artist  to  paint, — '  like  a 
fool.*  He  was  unwilling  to  be  handed  down 
to  posterity  thus  represented,  and  so  he  asked 
Miss  Goodridge  to  paint  him.  When  she  had 
developed  the  head  she  wished  to  do  more  to 
it,  but  he  would  not  allow  her,  lest  she  should 
injure  the  likeness.** 

This  miniature,  which  is  an  admirable  piece 
of  work,  is  evidently  one  that  Stuart  liked  him- 
self, as  it  was  set  in  a  bracelet  made  of  his  own 
hair  and  that  of  his  wife  and  daughter  Agnes. 
The  original,  from  which  several  excellent 
replicas  were  made,  was  engraved  by  A.  B. 
Durand  for  **The  National  Portrait  Gallery.** 

Miss  Goodridge  painted  a  miniature  of  her- 
self, which  is  now  in  the  Boston  Museum ; 
and  among  many  examples  of  her  work  to  be 
found  in  New  England  families  are  the  minia- 
tures of  Juliana  and  Fitz-William  Sargent. 
These  pictures  are  interesting  in  themselves, 
and  also  from  the  fact  that  this  young  brother 
and  sister  who  look  forth  from  Miss  Good- 

198 


Fitz  William  Sargent 
By  Sarah  Goodridge 
Page  198 


Charles  M.  Pope 
By  Nathaniel  Jocelyn 
Page  204 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


ridge's  miniatures  are  the  great-aunt  and  great- 
uncle  of  the  distinguished  portrait  painter  John 
Singer  Sargent. 

Henry  Inman  was  painting  in  Philadelphia 
in  1832,  where  he  executed  cabinet  and  life- 
sized  portraits,  as  well  as  miniatures.  Tucker- 
man  says  that  the  sight  of  Wertmiiller's 
masterpiece,  the  **Danae,'*  in  the  studio  of 
John  W.  Jarvis  led  Inman  to  turn  aside  from 
the  career  of  a  soldier  to  adopt  that  of  an 
artist.  While  with  Jarvis  in  Boston,  about 
1822,  the  younger  artist  painted  a  number  of 
the  beautiful  little  water-color  likenesses  by 
which  he  is  now  best  known. 

As  early  as  1819  Inman  painted  a  portrait  of 
the  Right  Reverend  Richard  Channing  Moore, 
of  Virginia,  whose  successor  in  office  was 
Bishop  William  Meade.  Dodson's  engraving 
of  Inman's  portrait  of  Bishop  Moore  gives  a 
fair  representation  of  the  beauty  and  dignity  of 
the  original.  Among  distinguished  men  who 
sat  to  Henry  Inman  were  James  Madison,  De 
Witt  Clinton,  John  James  Audubon,  the  natu- 
ralist, and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Nicholas  Fish. 
He  also  painted  a  miniature  of  Alexander 
Hamilton,  after  a  bust  by  Ceracchi,*  and  one 
of  Mrs.  Hamilton  from  life  in  1825.  Mrs. 
Hamilton's  face,  as  it  appears  in  Inman's 
miniature,  is  full  of  sweetness  and  charm, 
although  quite  different  from  the  bright  face 


* "  The  Centennial  of  Washington's  Inauguration," 
edited  by  Clarence  Winthrop  Bowen,  Ph.D. 

199 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


that  looks  out  from  Ralph  Earle's  portrait, 
painted  nearly  thirty  years  earlier. 

In  1843  three  of  Inman's  friends — ^James 
Lfenox,  Edward  L.  Carey,  and  Henry  Reed — 
gave  him  commissions  to  visit  England  and 
portray  for  them  respectively  the  faces  of  Chal- 
mers, Macaulay,  and  Wordsworth.  Inman 
had  been  out  of  health  for  some  months,  and 
this  trip  abroad  seems  to  have  been  the  result 
of  a  kindly  conspiracy  among  his  friends  to 
help  him  back  to  strength  by  means  of  change 
of  air  and  scene.  He  had,*'  says  Tucker- 
man,  a  delightful  sojourn  in  Westmoreland 
and  an  encouraging  visit  to  London,  where  the 
most  flattering  inducements  were  held  out  to 
him  to  establish  himself  as  a  portrait  painter. 
Had  he  done  so,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
a  new  and  prosperous  career  would  have  re- 
vived his  fortunes  and  his  life ;  but  domestic 
claims  and  precarious  health  obliged  him  to 
return  to  America, — not,  however,  before  he 
had  enjoyed  a  charming  episode  of  experience 
in  the  society  of  British  artists,  the  hospitali- 
ties of  London  celebrities,  and  the  opportu- 
nity to  examine  the  latest  achievements  in 
art.'*  Inman  became  seriously  ill  soon  after 
his  return  to  America,  and  his  death  in  1846,  at 
the  age  of  forty-five,  was  a  loss  to  the  profes- 
sion and  to  those  who  knew  him  as  a  charming, 
sympathetic,  and  versatile  companion,  gifted 
as  a  conversationalist  and  as  a  writer,  as  well 
as  with  his  brush. 

An  artist  whose  surname  has  caused  him  to 
200 


Mrs.  J.  Green  Pearson 
By  Charles  Cromwell  Ingham 
Page  201 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


be  sometimes  confused  with  Inman  is  Charles 
Cromwell  Ingham,  who  was  born  in  Dublin. 
After  studying  art  in  his  native  city,  Ingham 
went  to  New  York  in  1816,  and  became  one  of 
the  original  members  of  the  National  Academy 
of  Design. 

Mr.  Ingham  was  painting  in  New  York  in 
1824,  as  the  Marquis  de  Lafayette  sat  to  him 
during  his  last  visit  to  America.  Mrs.  J.  G. 
Pearson's  little  daughter,  who  accompanied 
her  to  the  studio  at  this  time,  remembers  La- 
fayette and  the  portrait  of  him  which  was 
being  painted. 

Ingham's  beautiful  miniature  of  Mrs.  Pear- 
son justifies  a  description  given  of  her,  by  one 
who  remembers  her,  as  a  woman  of  remark- 
able intelligence  and  humor,  with  a  face  which 
was  sad  in  repose,  but  lighted  up  with  great 
beauty  of  expression  when  in  conversation.** 

Mrs.  Pearson,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Eliza  Bond,  was  descended  from  William 
Bond,  who  came  from  Suffolk  County,  Eng- 
land, and  settled  in  Watertown,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1650.  From  this  William  Bond  most 
of  the  New  England  Bonds  are  descended. 

A  Southern  miniature  of  a  somewhat  earlier 
period  than  that  in  which  Ingham  painted  is 
one  of  James  Mackubin,  of  Bellefield,  Anne 
Arundel  County,  Maryland.  The  Mackubins 
are  of  Scotch  descent,  the  name  being  a  corrup- 
tion of  that  of  the  famous  clan  of  MacAlpine, 
through  which  they  claim  descent  from  Ken- 
neth II.  of  Scotland. 

20Z 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


James  Mackubin  was  evidently  a  handsome 
man,  and  his  wife,  Martha  RoUe,  is  spoken 
of  in  the  Annals  of  Maryland''  as  the  most 
beautiful  woman  of  her  day.  At  the  ball  given 
to  General  Washington  when  he  resigned  his 
commission,  in  1783,  the  Commander-in-Chief 
danced  with  Mrs.  Mackubin,  to  the  delight  of 
all  who  beheld  the  stately  couple. 

Mr.  Mackubin's  daughter  married  Commo- 
dore Henry  E.  Ballard,  who  was  first  lieu- 
tenant and  executive  officer  of  the  frigate 
Constitution  during  the  engagement  between 
the  British  cruisers  Cyane  and  Levant.  In 
consequence  of  his  service  at  this  time.  Con- 
gress presented  Commodore  Ballard  with  a 
silver  medal,  while  his  own  State,  Maryland, 
showed  its  appreciation  by  sending  him  a  gold- 
mounted  sword,  as  a  reward  for  heroism  and 
valor.''  This  sword  and  a  miniature  of  Com- 
modore Ballard  are  in  the  possession  of  his 
granddaughters,  the  Misses  Walton,  of  An- 
napolis. 

A  beautiful  miniature  of  Margaret  Coates 
Butler,  who  married  Richard  Worsam  Meade, 
of  Philadelphia,  was  painted  by  a  young  New 
York  artist,  George  A.  Baker.  This  artist, 
who  began  his  career  as  a  miniature  painter 
at  sixteen,  during  his  first  year  executed  one 
hundred  and  fifty  portraits,  for  which  he 
received  the  modest  sum  of  five  dollars  each. 
The  portrait  of  Mrs.  Meade  was  among 
Baker's  earlier  miniatures,  and  is  interesting 
not  only  for  its  excellence,  but  because  this 

202 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


lovely  lady  was  the  mother  of  the  distin- 
guished General  George  Gordon  Meade,  of 
Pennsylvania. 

Mrs.  Richard  Worsam  Meade's  miniature 
was  not  painted  from  life,  but  from  a  portrait 
by  Gilbert  Stuart  which  was  destroyed  during 
the  civil  war.  A  portrait  bust  of  Mrs.  Meade 
was  made  during  her  seven  years'  residence 
in  Cadiz,  to  which  place  her  husband  was 
appointed  consul  about  1810.  The  bust  of 
Mrs.  Meade  shows  the  noble  lines  of  the 
head  and  face  to  more  advantage  than  her 
youthful  miniature,  charming  as  it  is.  Gen- 
eral Meade  resembled  his  mother  in  appear- 
ance, as  well  as  in  many  traits  of  character. 

Nathaniel  Jocelyn,  who  painted  a  number 
of  excellent  miniatures,  was  born  in  New 
Haven  in  1796.  He  began  his  career  by 
working  with  his  father,  who  was  a  watch- 
maker, and  studied  drawing  under  his  own 
tuition  during  his  leisure  hours.  At  eighteen 
Jocelyn  apprenticed  himself  to  an  engraver,  and 
at  twenty-one  was  made  a  partner  in  a  bank- 
note engraving  company  :  later  he  became  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  National  Bank-Note 
Engraving  Company.  Not  being  satisfied  with 
the  work  of  lettering,  which  fell  to  his  share, 
he  exchanged  the  graver  for  the  pencil,  and  set 
sail  for  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  1820,  to  start 
afresh  as  a  portrait  painter. 

Self-taught,  except  for  the  instruction  gained 
by  him  from  Savannah  artists  and  during  a 
brief  business  tour  in  Europe,  Mr.  Jocelyn 

203 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


accomplished  much  good  work,  and  received  a 
prize  for  the  best  portrait  exhibited  in  Con- 
necticut in  1844.  He  was  later  elected  an 
academician  of  the  National  Academy  of  New 
York  and  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Art 
Union. 

A  number  of  Mr.  Jocelyn's  portraits,  which 
hang  in  the  Yale  Art  Gallery,  are  characterized 
by  strength  and  grace  in  composition  and  mod- 
elling. 

A  fine  example  of  Jocelyn's  work  is  a  minia- 
ture of  Charles  M.  Pope,  a  son  of  Alexander 
Pope,  of  Petersburg,  Virginia.  Mr,  Charles 
Pope  married  Margaretta  Emlen  Howell,  of 
Philadelphia,  a  very  beautiful  woman,  whose 
appearance  at  the  opera  in  New  Orleans  one 
night  excited  so  much  admiration  that  several 
enthusiastic  gentlemen  rose  to  their  feet  and 
called  out,  La  belle!  la  belle!''  to  the  great 
confusion  of  the  modest  Philadelphia  girl. 

A  Southern  woman  of  great  charm,  whose 
miniature  was  painted  by  Bridport,*  was  Eliza- 
beth Carter  Farley,  a  daughter  of  James  Parke 
Farley,  of  Antigua,  and  a  granddaughter  of 
Colonel  William  Byrd,  of  Westover,  Virginia. 

Elizabeth  Farley  was  married  three  times : 
her  first  husband  was  John  Banister,  Junior, 
of  Virginia ;  her  second  was  Thomas  Lee  Ship- 


*  Richard  Bridport,  who  lived  for  some  years  in  Phila- 
delphia, was  an  engraver  as  well  as  a  miniature  painter. 
A  miniature  of  Benjamin  Etting,  of  Philadelphia,  by  Brid- 
port, is  in  the  possession  of  his  son,  Mr.  J.  Marx  Etting. 

204 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


pen,  of  Philadelphia,  while  the  third  companion 
of  her  joys  and  sorrows  was  General  George 
Izard,  of  South  Carolina.  A  sister-in-law  of 
Elizabeth  Farley  was  Anne  Hume  Shippen, 
of  whom  a  charming  unsigned  miniature  is 
preserved  in  the  Shippen  family. 

Miss  Shippen  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Shippen,  of  Philadelphia,  and  became 
the  wife  of  Henry  Beekman  Livingston,  son 
of  Robert  R.  Livingston,  of  Clermont,  New 
York. 

Among  other  interesting  unsigned  miniatures 
are  those  of  the  Honorable  Jasper  Yeates  and 
his  wife.  Judge  Yeates,  who  was  descended 
from  an  early  settler  and  jurist  of  the  same 
name,  was  a  member  of  the  Convention  of 
1787,  by  which  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  framed,  and  held  several  important 
positions  under  President  Washington. 

Mrs.  Jasper  Yeates  was  a  daughter  of  Colo- 
nel James  Burd  and  Sarah  Shippen,  of  Lan- 
caster. To  his  wife  Judge  Yeates  wrote  many 
interesting  letters  while  absent  from  home  in 
attendance  upon  the  Supreme  Court  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  following,  written  from  Bed- 
ford, April  24,  1797,  contains  an  anecdote  about 
Washington  which  adds  to  its  interest : 

*^My  Dearest  Wife: 

"  We  got  here  this  morning  after  Breakfast 
but  experienced  dreadful  Roads.  We  were 
much  fatigued  yesterday,  but  forgot  all  our 
cares  when  we  came  to  Hartleys,  6  miles  from 

205 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


hence.  A  fine  woman,  handsomely  but  plainly 
dressed,  welcomed  us  to  his  house.  Good 
Trout,  Asparagus,  Olives  and  Apples  garnished 
our  Table,  and  I  had  as  good  a  Bed  as  ever  I 
lay  in,  to  console  me  after  my  Ride. 

Mr.  Washington  once  told  me,  on  a  charge 
which  I  once  made  against  the  President  at 
his  own  Table,  that  the  admiration  he  warmly 
professed  for  Mrs.  Hartley,  was  a  Proof  of  his 
Homage  to  the  worthy  part  of  the  Sex,  and 
highly  respectful  to  his  Wife.  In  the  same 
Lfight  I  beg  you  will  consider  my  partiality  to 
the  elegant  accomplishments  of  Mrs.  Hartley.'' 

Mrs.  Hartley,  who  was  honored  with  the 
admiration  of  General  Washington  and  Judge 
Yeates,  was  the  wife  of  Colonel  Thomas  Hart- 
ley, M.  C.  from  1789  to  1800,  who  had  in  1778 
commanded  the  expedition  against  the  Indians 
implicated  in  the  massacre  of  Wyoming. 

An  artist  who  painted  many  miniatures 
in  Philadelphia  was  George  Freeman,  who 
should  not  be  confused  with  James  E.  Free- 
man. The  latter  was  born  in  Nova  Scotia, 
but  at  an  early  age  entered  the  schools  of  the 
National  Academy  in  New  York  City,  and 
afterwards  painted  in  the  western  portion  of 
the  State. 

Of  J.  E.  Freeman's  best  known  work,  **The 
Beggars,''  Henry  T.  Tuckerman  wrote:  "The 
composition  is  simple,  but  remarkably  felici- 
tous, consisting  of  one  erect  and  one  sleeping 
figure ;  but  the  attitudes,  the  atmosphere,  the 

206 


Mrs.  Willing  Francis 
Attributed  to  George  Freeman 
Page  207 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


execution,  the  finish,  and,  above  all,  the  ex- 
pression, are  in  the  highest  degree  artistic  and 
suggestive." 

In  Mr.  George  Freeman's  miniatures  he 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  those  later  artists 
who  introduced  the  cabinet  size  into  miniature 
work.  Andrew  Robertson  was,'*  says  Mr. 
George  C.  Williamson,  ''the  originator  of  the 
cabinet  size  of  miniature,  which  was  much 
larger  than  the  small  oval  that  had  been  the 
vogue.  They  are  richly  elaborated  pictures, 
complete  in  every  detail,  glorious  in  coloring, 
and  full  of  dignity  and  grace." 

Fine  examples  of  Mr.  Freeman's  work  are 
cabinet  miniatures  of  Mrs.  Edward  Biddle 
and  of  her  father-in-law,  Nicholas  Biddle. 
This  latter  is  a  three-quarter  figure,  signed 
**  G.  Freeman,  1838."  A  beautiful  miniature 
attributed  to  Freeman  is  of  Maria  Willing,  a 
daughter  of  Mr.  George  Willing,  of  Philadel- 
phia, who  married  her  own  cousin.  Willing 
Francis.  This  miniature,  which  is  in  the  style 
of  the  portraits  of  the  First  Empire,  is  beautiful 
in  composition  and  color.  The  blonde  head 
and  delicate  face  stand  out  against  a  back- 
ground of  pale  blue  sky  that  admirably  suits 
the  ethereal  grace  of  both  face  and  figure. 

George  Freeman  painted  a  miniature  of  Dor- 
othy Francis  Willing,  a  much  younger  sister 
of  Mrs.  Willing  Francis.  Miss  Willing,  in 
1853,  became  the  wife  of  the  Honorable  John 
William  Wallace,  LL.D.,  who  held  many 
important   positions   in  his  city  and  State 

207 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  was  for  many  years  the  much  esteemed 
president  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

Mr.  Robinson,  an  English  artist,  about  whom 
little  seems  to  be  known  personally,  painted 
a  number  of  excellent  miniatures  in  Philadel- 
phia between  1817  and  1829.  Among  these  are 
portraits  of  John  Beale  Bordley,  Joseph  Bisp- 
ham,  John  Sergeant,  and  Samuel  Milligan.  The 
latter  is  signed  ''J.  R.,  iSig,"  and  is  fine  in 
drawing  and  color. 

An  English  artist  whose  style  resembles  that 
of  the  best  miniature  painters  of  his  own  coun- 
try and  time  was  Edward  Miles,  who  was  born 
at  Yarmouth,  October  14,  1752,  and  painted  in 
Philadelphia  from  1807  to  1828.  Mr.  Miles  was 
in  his  early  studies  associated  with  the  leading 
English  artists  of  the  later  years  of  the  past 
century,  and  was  himself  appointed  painter  to 
the  Duchess  of  York,  and  afterwards  to  Queen 
Charlotte,  as  appears  from  the  original  war- 
rant, now  in  possession  of  his  great-grandson, 
Mr.  Edward  S-  Miles,  in  which  it  is  set  forth 
under  the  royal  signature,  Charlotte  R.,  that 

Whereas  We  have  thought  fit  to  appoint 
Edward  Miles  Esquire  to  be  Our  Miniature 
Painter  during  Our  Pleasure  Our  Will  and 
Pleasure  therefore  is  that  in  making  out  Our 
Establishment  of  Our  Household  you  do  Enter 
him  therein  as  such  And  for  so  doing  this 
being  Entered  in  your  Office  shall  be  to  you  a 
Sufficient  Warrant    Given  at  St.  James's  the 

208 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


16^^  day  of  May  1794  in  the  Thirty  fourth  year 
of  the  Reign  of  Our  Dearest  Lord  and  Hus- 
band. 

By  Her  Majesty's  Command* 
Effingham. 

To  Our  Right  Trusty  and  Right  Welbeloved 
Cousin  Richard  Earl  of  Effingham  Our  Secre- 
tary and  Comptroller. 

While  he  was  Court  painter  In  England,  Mr. 
Miles  executed  miniatures  of  the  many  Prin- 
cesses of  that  exemplary  pere  de  famille  but  in- 
effectual sovereign,  George  III.  For  the  little 
Princess  Augusta  the  artist  ever  after  enter- 
tained a  most  affectionate  admiration,  cher- 
ishing a  lock  of  her  fair  hair  and  naming  his 
only  daughter  after  her. 

An  excellent  portrait  of  Mr.  Miles  in  oil  was 
painted  by  Sir  William  Beechey  in  1782.  Of 
this  distinguished  artist,  between  whom  and 
Edward  Miles  there  existed  a  warm  friendship, 
many  amusing  stories  are  told.  Upon  one  oc- 
casion, after  unmercifully  criticising  a  painting 
of  Charles  R.  Leslie's,  Sir  William  turned  to 
him  cheerily  and  told  him  that  whenever  he 
wanted  another  set  down  he  would  be  happy  to 
accommodate  him.  Leslie,  who  seems  to  have 
possessed  an  angelic  disposition,  wrote  to  his 
"dear  Betsey,''  "I  must  confess  that  I  felt 
somewhat  dispirited,  yet  I  consider  it  very 
wholesome  chastisement,  and  am  certain  I 
shall  benefit  much  from  it." 
14  2og 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Mr.  Miles  exhibited  pictures  in  the  London 
Academy  from  1786  until  1797,  when  he  went 
to  St.  Petersburg,  where  he  occupied  the  posi- 
tion of  painter  to  the  Court  of  Russia  during 
the  eventful  years  that  witnessed  the  assassi- 
nation of  the  Emperor  Paul,  the  accession  of 
his  son  Alexander,  and  the  various  complica- 
tions between  the  great  Powers  that  followed 
the  earlier  victories  of  Napoleon.  During  his 
residence  in  St.  Petersburg  the  English  artist 
painted  portraits  in  miniature  of  the  handsome 
young  Emperor,  who  was  a  liberal  patron  of 
the  arts,  and  of  his  Empress,  Maria  Louisa  of 
Baden.  Mr.  Miles*s  miniatures  of  two  young 
Russian  Princesses  in  style  and  treatment  re- 
semble George  Engleheart's  portraits  of  the 
Misses  Berry,  being  characterized  by  the  good 
drawing  and  the  delicacy  and  exquisiteness  of 
finish  that  are  to  be  seen  in  the  miniatures 
of  the  two  lovely  ladies  who  were  the  friends 
of  Horace  Walpole. 

In  1807  Mr.  Miles  left  Russia  and  came  to 
Philadelphia,  where  he  lived  until  his  death, 
in  1828.  He  was  a  founder  and  a  fellow  of  the 
Society  of  Artists  of  the  United  States.  Among 
Mr.  Miles's  pupils  was  Mr.  James  R.  Lambdin. 
The  first  of  Mr.  Lambdin' s  many  portraits  was 
one  of  his  preceptor. 

In  Philadelphia  Mr.  Miles  seems  to  have  exe- 
cuted miniatures  of  his  family  and  friends  only. 
Among  the  latter  was  the  venerable  Bishop 
White,  of  whom  he  painted  a  miniature.  Mr. 
Miles  appears  to  have  had  ample  means  for 

210 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


support  from  his  investments,  and  there  is  no 
record  of  his  having  taught  or  painted  for 
profit  after  he  came  to  this  country,  until  his 
son  failed  in  business ;  then  he  had  a  few  ad- 
vanced pupils  at  his  own  home.  They  were 
nearly  all  men  of  merit,  who  profited  by  the 
excellent  instruction  given  them. 

When  Thomas  Sully  first  visited  England, 
he  bore  letters  from  Edward  Miles  to  a  number 
of  English  artists.  Among  these  was  Sir 
Thomas  Lawrence,  who,  he  says,  "received 
me  Very  Warmly  on  Miles's  account,  but  was 
too  much  of  a  gentleman  not  to  add,  *  and  on 
your  own  also.' 

An  artist  whose  fame  is  in  no  degree  com- 
mensurate with  the  excellence  of  his  work 
was  George  Hewitt  Cushman,  who  was  born 
in  Windham,  Connecticut,  in  1814,  and  lived 
and  painted  in  Philadelphia  for  many  years. 
Although  Mr.  Cushman  did  not  study  painting 
until  rather  late  in  life,  having  first  mastered 
the  art  of  engraving  under  Asaph  Willard, 
of  Hartford,  he  painted  a  number  of  beautiful 
miniatures  and  became  a  fine  colorist  in  every 
department.  A  friend  of  Mr.  Cushman's,  Mrs. 
Lippincott,  better  known  to  her  readers  as 

Grace  Greenwood,"  wrote  with  warm  appre- 
ciation of  his  character  and  genius,  which  she 
said  combined  a  fancy  of  rare  refinement,  an 
eye  and  thirst  for  beauty,  perceptions  the  most 
quick  and  accurate,  an  instinct  of  grace,  a  soul 
for  all  the  spiritual  meanings  and  harmonies 
of  art.    His  miniature  works  were  always  re- 

211 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


markable  for  purity  and  simplicity  of  character, 
as  well  as  tone ;  the  best  and  sweetest  and 
truest  traits  of  his  sitters  he  could  call  forth 
and  fix  in  those  fairy  portraits.  The  most 
minute  of  his  male  heads  were  remarkable  for 
an  air  of  earnest  manhood ;  the  most  exquisite 
of  his  female  heads  were  distinguished  by  a 
certain  breadth  and  depth  of  womanliness, 
giving  them  a  dignity  which  mere  grand  pro- 
portions cannot  give ;  Cushman  seemed  to 
me  to  work  in  the  essence  of  color,  so  won- 
drously  soft  yet  clear  were  his  tints,  so 
dreamy,  so  aerially  delicate,  were  his  lights 
and  shades." 

Another  life-long  friend,  Mrs.  Vincenzo  Botta, 
wrote  of  Mr.  Cushman:  "His  modesty  was 
so  extreme  that  it  became  a  defect ;  for  with  a 
higher  and  more  just  estimation  of  himself  he 
would  have  accomplished  more  and  impressed 
others  with  a  more  true  idea  of  his  merits. 
His  early  tastes  were  for  a  military  education 
at  West  Point  and  an  army  life,  but  he  was 
prevented  from  following  his  inclinations,  and 
he  remained  in  civil  life,  where  he  was  to  some 
extent  misplaced.  The  powerful  frame,  exu- 
berant vitality,  and  commanding  presence  that 
made  the  ideal  of  a  military  hero  seemed  not 
to  have  found  their  highest  or  rather  their 
widest  sphere  in  the  artist's  studio.  The  per- 
sonal appearance  of  Mr.  Cushman  may  be  best 
described  by  the  word  *  distinguished  in  the 
street,  in  the  crowded  assembly,  wherever  he 
went,  people  asked,  '  Who  is  he  ?'  and  the  im- 

212 


George  Hewitt  Cushman 
By  Himself 
Page  213 


Rebecca  Wetherill 
By  George  Hewitt  Cushman 

Page  214 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


pression  produced  by  his  strikingly  fine  head 
and  well-proportioned  figure  was  deepened  by 
the  entire  unconsciousness  of  his  manner. 
Outside  of  the  limit  of  private  life  Mr.  Cush- 
man  was  chiefly  known  as  an  artist,  and,  under 
different  circumstances,  he  would  have  taken 
the  highest  Tank  as  a  miniature  painter.  But, 
as  I  have  said,  he  was  inclined  to  underes- 
timate his  own  genius  ;  he  lacked  the  stimulus 
of  pecuniary  necessity ;  and  for  many  years  he 
suffered  from  an  intensely  painful  malady, 
which  to  some  extent  paralyzed  alike  his  am- 
bition and  his  physical  energy.  The  pictures 
he  painted  were  done  mostly  for  his  friends, 
and  not  professionally.  They  are  of  unequal 
merit;  but  of  the  best  of  them  it  is  not  too 
much  to  say  that  they  compare  favorably  with 
those  of  Malbone,  if  they  do  not  equal  them  ; 
and,  if  he  had  devoted  himself  to  the  art,  he 
would  have  achieved  a  renown  as  high." 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  Mr.  Cush- 
man's  admirable  miniature  work,  it  does  not 
seem  as  if  Mrs.  Botta  had  claimed  too  much 
for  him. 

His  portraits  of  women  more  nearly  ap- 
proach those  of  Malbone  in  their  delicacy  of 
color  and  treatment  than  the  work  of  any 
other  American  miniaturist.  Among  several 
excellent  miniatures  left  by  Mr.  Cushman  in 
Hartford  is  one  of  Daniel  Wadsworth. 
In  Philadelphia  he  painted  portraits  of 
Grace  Greenwood"  and  of  the  Misses  Weth- 
erill,  granddaughters  of  Samuel  Wetherill,  the 

213 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Free  Quaker,  whom  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell  has 
introduced  into  his  novel  Hugh  Wynne." 
One  of  these  sisters  whom  Mr.  Cushman 
painted,  Susan  Wetherill,  became  his  wife. 
The  most  characteristic  and  beautiful  of  his 
portraits  are  those  of  Miss  Rebecca  Wetherill, 
his  sister-in-law,  and  of  Miss  Martha  Weth- 
erill, who  married  Mr.  William  W.  Young,  of 
Washington.*  In  his  early  days  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  in  his  later  life  in  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia, Mr.  Cushman  was  intimately  associ- 
ated with  Mr.  John  Cheney,  the  engraver,  with 
his  brother,  Seth  W.  Cheney,  who  excelled  in 
drawing  and  in  portraiture  in  black  and  white, 
and  with  Chauncey  B.  Ives,  the  sculptor,  whose 
fine  work  in  marble  and  in  bronze  is  to  be  found 
in  several  of  our  cities. 

John  Henry  Brown  painted  many  excellent 
miniatures  during  his  long  career  as  an  artist, 
which  lasted  from  1836  until  1891,  with  the 
exception  of  twelve  years,  from  1864  to  1876, 
when  he  was  engaged  as  a  partner  in  a  photo- 
graphic establishment.  Mr.  Brown  was  born  in 
Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  in  1818.  An  account 
of  his  early  life  and  of  how  he  began  to  paint 
is  to  be  found  in  his  own  diary,t  in  which  he 


*  Mr.  Cushman  painted  an  exquisite  miniature  of  Fanny 
Kemble,  which  she  gave  to  her  intimate  friend  Miss  Cath- 
erine Sedgwick.  From  this  miniature  the  artist  painted  a 
much  smaller  replica  for  Mrs.  Botta. 

f  For  the  use  of  this  unpublished  diary  the  author  is 
indebted  to  Mr.  J.  Henry  Brown's  son,  Mr.  Walter  Brown, 
who  is  also  a  miniature  painter. 

214 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


says  that  he  entered  the  Recorder's  office  in 
Lancaster,  under  Jacob  Peelor,  Esquire,  at  the 
age  of  sixteen,  and  upon  losing  that  position 
two  years  later,  in  consequence  of  a  change 
of  administration,  Governor  Wolf  being  suc- 
ceeded by  Governor  Ritner,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  the  art  of  engraving.  He  v^as, 
he  says,  unable  to  pursue  his  studies  in  this 
branch  of  art  for  lack  of  means,  but  adds : 
I  embraced  however  with  pleasure  the  study 
of  my  other  love, — Painting.  On  the  5th  of 
Feby.  1836  I  entered  Mr.  Arthur  Armstrong's 
painting  room.  Mr.  A.  was  doing  many  kinds 
of  work, — portrait, — history, — landscape  &c. 
but  depended  principally,  as  a  means  of  living, 
on  sign  and  fancy  painting.  I  remained  with 
him  until  the  21st  of  August  1839.  Being  then 
of  lawful  age  I  commenced  business  for  my- 
self immediately,  (in  Lancaster),  as  a  portrait, 
sign  &  fancy  painter ;  to  which  I  added  minia- 
ture painting,  a  branch  not  taught  by  Mr. 
Armstrong,  and  at  which  I  had  been  working 
at  home,  on  Sundays — God  forgive  me — for 
near  a  year  before  I  left  him.  My  progress 
was  slow,  as  I  had  no  instructor  and  no  infor- 
mation,— save  a  little  gained  from  an  old  book 
called  'The  Complete  Young  Man's  Com- 
panion.' I  followed  business  as  a  painter  of 
all  work  until  1844,  about  which  time  my  career 
as  a  miniature  painter  exclusively  commenced. 
Though  I  have  given  that  commencement  a 
date,  its  adoption  as  a  business  exclusively 
was  nevertheless  gradual, — like  the  gradation 

215 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


of  light  and  shade,  and  arose  or  was  caused 
thus, — in  consequence  of  my  decided  prefer- 
ence for  that  branch  of  my  profession,  I  would 
attend  to  orders  for  miniatures  to  the  exclusion 
of  all  other  engagements,  as  orders  for  minia- 
tures increased,  orders  for  other  kinds  of  work 
diminished,  as  it  soon  became  known  among 
my  patrons  what  my  preference  was.  In  1842 
I  made  a  professional  visit  to  this  City  [Phila- 
delphia] by  solicitation.  I  remained  between 
two  and  three  months  and  painted  during  that 
time  ten  or  twelve  miniatures.  As  I  did  not 
like  Philadelphia  at  that  time,  I  went  back  to 
my  native  place,  though  I  had,  when  I  left, 
some  months'  work  engaged.'' 

During  the  years  in  which  Mr.  Brown  was 
painting  he  executed  miniatures  of  many  dis- 
tinguished men  and  beautiful  women,  chiefly 
in  Philadelphia,  although  he  painted  in  other 
large  cities. 

Among  these  sitters,  early  and  late,  were 
Bishop  Odenheimer,  Mr.  Henry  J.  Williams, 
Mr.  Joseph  Swift,  Dr.  John  K.  Mitchell,  Joseph 
Hopkinson,  grandson  of  Judge  Hopkinson, 
Mr.  William  Welsh,  Mrs.  Henry  D.  Gilpin, 
Mrs.  James  Coleman,  Mrs.  A.  J.  Drexel,  the 
Honorable  Alexander  Henry,  and  Edwin 
Booth. 

One  of  Mr.  Brown's  earlier  miniatures  is  of 
Mrs.  Seth  Craige,  who  was  Angeline  Shaw,  of 
Maine. 

Some  interesting  letters,  written  to  her 
mother  by  Mrs.  Craige  while  on  a  visit  to 

216 


Mrs.  Seth  Craige 
hy  ].  Henry  Brown 
Page  216 


Mrs.  Henry  E.  Johnston 
(Harriet  Lane) 
By  J.  Henry  Brown 
Page  219 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Savannah  with  her  husband,  have  been  pre- 
served in  her  family. 

In  one  of  these  letters  there  is  an  amusing 
description  of  a  Christmas  dinner,  and  between 
the  lines  we  read  more  notes  of  exclamation 
than  those  that  appear  after  the  announcement 
of  the  very  elegant  dinner  and  the  green  peas 
in  December ;  the  fashions  and  customs  of  the 
South  being  very  different  from  those  to  which 
the  New  England  girl  had  been  accustomed. 
The  letter  was  written  December  27,  1828,  and 
the  writer  says:  "I  will  give  you  a  slight 
description  of  our  Christmas  Day.  You  must 
know  we  boarded  in  the  same  house  in  Charles- 
ton with  Mrs.  Barnes  of  the  New  York  Theatre, 
a  charming  woman  she  is  too,  visited  by  the 
first  families  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and 
respected  by  all  who  know  her,  she  likewise 
came  to  Savannah  with  us  in  the  Steamboat. 
But  to  my  story — probably  Thomas  has  heard 
of  the  Honorable  Mr.  Gaston  of  this  place,  a 
bachelor  who  is  very  hospitable  to  strangers. 
He  had  heard  we  were  here,  and  called  on  us, 
and  insisted  on  our  dining  with  him  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  he  said  he  would  have  a  very  small 
party,  three  or  four  ladies  and  the  same  num- 
ber of  gentlemen,  was  sorry  he  could  not  have 
a  larger  one,  but  owing  to  there  being  so  many 
family  parties  it  was  not  possible.  As  it  is  cus- 
tomary for  him  to  have  frequent  lady  parties, 
we  went,  likewise  Mrs.  Barnes  who  is  an  old 
acquaintance  of  his.  At  four  o'clock  he  came 
for  us  accompanied  by  Mrs.  B.  and  waited 

217 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


upon  us  to  his  house,  which  is  very  elegant 
for  a  bachelor's  hall,  were  ushered  into  a  room 
full  of  gentlemen,  not  a  lady  beside  ourselves, 
were  seated  on  the  sofa,  and  judge  of  our  feel- 
ings when  before  the  ceremony  was  over,  we 
were  introduced  to  upwards  of  thirty  gentle- 
men, all  the  Lords,  Dukes,  and  Counts  of  the 
place. 

Our  host  strewed  us  with  roses,  and 
sprinkled  us  with  Cologne  water,  or  I  believe 
I  should  have  fainted.  I  wanted  to  laugh  so 
bad  I  did  not  know  what  to  do.  Mrs.  B.  is 
very  lively  and  she  kept  touching  me,  with 
*  did  you  ever !  too  bad  !  never  mind !  bear  up/ 
and  so  on,  while  Seth  had  got  into  a  corner 
grinning  at  us  and  enjoying  our  confusion.  .  .  . 
At  5  ^^^^  we  were  summoned  to  the  table,  which 
was  elegantly  lighted  up,  and  such  a  dinner! 
throughout  the  most  elegant  you  can  imagine, 
and  among  the  dishes  green  peas ! 

Mrs.  Barnes  was  escorted  to  the  table  by 
Mr.  Gaston,  Mrs.  Craige  by  Colonel  McCrea 
of  New  York,  the  gentlemen  followed  in  order, 
each  plate  having  a  gentleman's  name  written 
on  a  beautiful  card.  Now  if  I  could  only  paint 
you  our  dinner  scene  you  would  die  with 
laughter. 

"  Our  host  gave  us  a  toast  which  was  drunk 
standing,  appropriate  only  to  the  ladies,  a  very 
elegant  one,  and  he  insisted  upon  a  sentiment 
from  the  ladies— during  all  this  time  you  might 
have  lit  a  match  by  my  face.  At  seven  o'clock 
we  begged  to  retire — we  had  coffee  served  in 

218 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  drawing  room  and  at  half-past  eight  re- 
turned to  the  hotel,  so  much  amused  that  I 
shall  go  to  see  the  gentleman  again,  as  it  is 
considered  a  great  honour.'* 

Of  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  under  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  theatre-going,  Mrs.  Craige  wrote 
in  the  same  cheerful  vein:  ''Last  night  the 
ladies  wished  me  to  join  them  and  go  to  the 
theatre.  I  agreed,  so  we  dressed  ourselves, 
decorated  our  heads,  hired  the  only  carriage 
the  town  affords,  an  old  fish  cart;  sent  the 
gentlemen  ahead  in  the  rain.  Savannah  being 
a  sand  bank,  and  no  pavement  you  can  judge 
of  the  walking — arrived  there — no  play — too 
bad  a  night  for  Mrs.  Barnes  to  turn  out,  so  we 
had  to  go  home  and  be  laughed  at  handsomely." 

A  Lancaster  boy,  and  a  resident  of  that 
town  during  his  youth,  J.  Henry  Brown  was 
a  life-long  friend  of  James  Buchanan,  after- 
wards President  of  the  United  States.  Of  him 
Mr.  Brown  painted  two  miniatures.  He  also 
painted  a  miniature  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  niece. 
Miss  Harriet  Lane,  who  presided  with  so  much 
grace  and  dignity  over  the  social  functions  of 
the  White  House  during  her  uncle's  adminis- 
tration. 

A  glamour  seems  to  surround  this  last  ad- 
ministration before  the  war,  when  Washington 
life  in  official  circles,  as  it  now  stands  out 
against  the  long  period  of  storm  and  stress  so 
soon  to  follow,  seems  like  a  gala  day.  Mrs. 
EUet,  who  wrote  of  the  first  Republican  Court 
of  1789,  chronicles  the  gay  doings  of  this  later 

2ig 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


circle  with  the  zest  and  freedom  which  a  writer 
feels  in  dealing  with  known  quantities.  She 
tells  of  a  fancy  ball  at  which  Mr.  Kingman 
appeared  as  President  Monroe,  dressed  by  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gouverneur  in  the  very  court  dress 
Monroe  wore  at  the  French  court  as  Ambas- 
sador,*' where  Mrs.  Alexander  Slidell  was  a 
dazzling  vision  in  a  Russian  court  dress  of 
velvet  and  rich  fur,  and  Mrs.  Hopkins,  of  Cali- 
fornia, and  Mrs.  Burt,  of  Ohio,  respectively 
personated  Lady  Macbeth  and  Lady  Byron. 
Upon  the  glories  of  dinners,  receptions,  and 
sozrSes  this  famous  chronicler  descants  at  length, 
telling  of  a  May  entertainment  at  the  British 
embassy  when  Lord  Napier  wore  a  court  cos- 
tume glittering  with  gold  lace,  while  Lady 
Napier  stood  at  his  side  exquisitely  attired, 
her  head  adorned  with  a  wreath  of  water- 
lilies  surmounted  by  a  tiara  of  diamonds, 
those  being  days  when  beautiful  heads  were 
disfigured  with  braids,  wreaths,  jewels,  and 
other  decorations.  Miss  Lane  seems  to  have 
had  the  good  taste  to  dress  her  fair  hair  with 
great  simplicity.  She  is  described  as  a  blonde, 
*^  with  deep  violet  eyes,  golden  hair,  classic 
features,  and  a  mouth  of  peculiar  beauty.'* 

An  interesting  feature  of  this  administration 
was  the  visit  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  in  i860, 
accompanied  by  Lord  Lyons,  which  was  the 
occasion  of  many  elaborate  festivities  at  the 
capital.  Some  of  the  official  functions  ap- 
pear to  have  bored  his  Royal  Highness,  but  he 
is  said  to  have  entered  with  boyish  glee  into 

220 


Mrs.  William  Howard  Gardiner 
(Caroline  L.  Perkins) 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


a  game  of  tenpins  with  Miss  Lane  at  Mrs. 
Smith's  institute  for  young  ladies,  and  man- 
fully bore  his  part  in  dancing  with  Miss  Slidell, 
Miss  Gwin,  Miss  Riggs,  Miss  Ledyard,  and 
Miss  Lane  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer,  as  they 
returned  from  an  all-day  excursion  to  Mount 
Vernon. 

A  Southern  gentleman  in  official  life,  and 
much  in  Washington  during  these  years,  said : 
''The  White  House  under  the  administration 
of  Mr.  Buchanan  approached  more  nearly  to 
my  idea  of  a  Republican  Court  than  the  Presi- 
dent's house  has  ever  done  since  the  days 
of  Washington.*'  Much  of  the  elegance  that 
characterized  the  social  functions  of  the  White 
House  was  due  to  Miss  Lane's  influence,  who 
seems  to  have  combined  courtesy  and  dignity 
in  a  manner  that  made  her  a  most  charming 
hostess. 

Mr.  Brown's  miniature  of  Mr.  Buchanan's 
niece  was  painted  some  years  after  her  mar- 
riage to  Mr.  Henry  Elliott  Johnston,  of  Balti- 
more. 

Another  Lancaster  woman,  a  friend  of  Mrs. 
Johnston's,  whose  miniature  was  painted  by 
the  same  artist,  was  Mrs.  Isaac  Hazlehurst, 
who,  as  Caroline  Jacobs,  was  a  reigning  belle 
in  Philadelphia  in  the  late  thirties.  Among  her 
friends  and  contemporaries  in  Lancaster  and 
Philadelphia  were  Sarah  Jane  Hall,  afterwards 
Mrs.  Thomas  F.  Potter;  Lydia  Jenkins,  who 
married  Mr.  Beverly  Robinson,  of  New  York ; 
Elizabeth  Wharton  and  Patty  James,  of  Phil- 

221 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


adelphia,  two  rare  beauties,  and  the  lovely 
Coleman  sisters,  of  Lancaster,  Anne  and 
Sarah.  Anne  C.  Coleman  was  engaged  to 
James  Buchanan.  The  rupture  of  this  con- 
tract, at  Mr.  Coleman's  desire,  was  a  disap- 
pointment from  which  Mr.  Buchanan,  it  is 
said,  never  recovered.  Another  unfulfilled  en- 
gagement was  that  of  Sarah  Coleman  to  the 
distinguished  divine  and  poet,  William  Augus- 
tus Muhlenberg,  who  was  rector  of  Saint 
James's  Church  in  Lancaster  during  the  early 
years  of  the  century.  The  reason  for  the 
breaking  of  this  engagement,  family  tradition 
does  not  reveal.  Dr.  Muhlenberg,  who  never 
married,  soon  after  wrote  the  hymn  by  which 
he  is  best  known,  I  Would  not  Live  Alway.'* 
Harriet  Coleman,  the  course  of  whose  true  love 
ran  more  smoothly  than  that  of  her  two  aunts, 
married  Eugene  Livingston,  of  New  York. 

A  few  older  inhabitants,  who  recall  the 
charms  of  this  galaxy  of  beauty,  shake  their 
heads  solemnly  when  they  describe  the  attrac- 
tions of  these  belles  of  fifty  years  ago,  as  if  no 
such  loveliness  could  ever  again  be  tempted  to 
visit  this  hoary-headed  old  earth. 

Those  who  knew  Mrs.  Hazlehurst  in  her 
youth  dwell  more  upon  her  loveliness  of  char- 
acter and  charm  of  manner  than  upon  her 
great  beauty.  These  traits  she  possessed  in  a 
marked  degree  long  after  youth  had  fled. 

As  Mr.  Hazlehurst  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  the  legal  and  political  life  of  Philadel- 
phia, his  wife  met  many  distinguished  men  of 

222 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  day.  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  Ed- 
ward Everett,  James  Buchanan,  and  Henry  D. 
Gilpin  were  entertained  at  the  hospitable  home 
of  the  Hazlehursts,  and  became  fast  friends 
of  their  hostess  as  well  as  of  her  husband. 

Mr.  Brown  was  in  i860  called  upon  to  paint 
a  miniature  of  Mr.  Buchanan's  great  successor 
in  office,  Abraham  Lincoln. 

For  the  purpose  of  having  some  sittings  from 
Mr.  Lincoln,  the  artist  went  to  Springfield, 
Illinois,  in  August,  i860.  During  this  visit  Mr. 
Brown  made  the  following  notes : 

"  13th,  Called  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  house  to  see  him.  As 
he  was  not  in  I  was  directed  to  the  Executive 
Chamber  in  the  State  Capitol,  I  found  him  there. 
Handed  him  my  letters  from  Judge  Read.  He  at 
once  consented  to  sit  for  his  picture.  We  walked 
together  from  the  Executive  Chamber  to  a  Daguer- 
rian  establishment.  I  had  a  half  dozen  of  ambro- 
types  taken  of  him  before  I  could  get  one  to  suit 
me.  I  was  at  once  most  favourably  impressed  with 
Mr.  Lincoln.  In  the  afternoon  I  unpacked  my 
painting  materials. 
14th,  Commenced  Mr.  Lincoln's  picture.  At  it  all  day. 
15th,  At  Mr.  Lincoln's  picture. 

1 6th,  Mr.  Lincoln  gave  me  his  first  sitting,  in  the  library 
room  of  the  State  Capitol.  Called  to  see  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln, much  pleased  with  her.    Wrote  five  letters. 

17th,  i8th,  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  picture.  Received  an  invita- 
tion from  Mrs.  Lincoln  to  take  tea  with  them. 

19th,  Sunday.    Wrote  letters. 

20th,  Mr.  Lincoln's  second  sitting.  Have  arranged  to 
have  his  sittings  in  the  Representative  Chamber. 

21  st,  At  Mr.  Lincoln's  picture.  Heard  from  home,  all 
well. 

223 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


22d,   Mr.  Lincoln's  third  sitting. 
23d,  At  Mr.  Lincoln's  picture. 
24th,  Mr.  Lincoln's  fourth  sitting. 

25th,  Mr.  Lincoln's  fifth  and  last  sitting.  The  picture 
gives  great  satisfaction.  Mrs.  Lincoln  speaks  of 
it  in  the  most  extravagant  terms  of  approbation. 

26th,  Sunday.  At  church.  Saw  Mrs.  Lincoln  there.  I 
hardly  know  how  to  express  the  strength  of  my 
personal  regard  for  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  never  saw  a 
man  for  whom  I  so  soon  formed  an  attachment. 
I  like  him  much  and  agree  with  him  in  all  things 
but  his  politics.  He  is  kind  and  very  sociable, 
immensely  popular  among  the  people  of  Spring- 
field, even  those  opposed  to  him  in  politics  speak 
of  him  in  unqualified  terms  of  praise.  He  is  51 
years  old,  6  feet  4  inches  high  and  weighs  160 
pounds.  There  are  so  many  hard  lines  in  his  face 
that  it  becomes  a  mask  to  the  inner  man.  His 
true  character  only  shines  out  when  in  an  ani- 
mated conversation  or  when  telling  an  amusing 
tale,  of  which  he  is  very  fond.  He  is  said  to  be  a 
homely  man.    I  do  not  think  so.  .  .  . 

27th,  The  people  of  Springfield  who  have  seen  Mr.  Lin- 
coln's picture  speak  of  it  in  strong  terms  of  appro- 
bation, declaring  it  to  be  the  best  that  has  yet 
been  taken  of  him.  Received  a  letter  from  Mr. 
Lincoln  endorsing  the  picture,  also  from  Mrs. 
Lincoln  expressing  her  unqualified  satisfaction 
with  it ;  also  one  from  Mr.  John  G.  Nicolay,  Mr. 
Lincoln's  confidential  clerk,  and  one  from  the  man 
who  took  the  ambrotype." 

An  acknowledged  pioneer  in  the  art  of  en- 
graving in  America  was  John  Sartain,  who 
was  ten  years  the  senior  of  John  Henry  Brown. 

Mr.  Sartain  was  widely  known  in  his  chosen 
profession,  in  which  he  accomplished  a  larger 

224 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


amount  of  good  work  than  any  other  engraver 
of  his  time.  He  also  introduced  into  America 
that  branch  of  engraving  known  as  mezzotint. 
Mr.  Sartain  engaged  professionally  in  several 
branches  of  painting.  In  the  art  of  miniature 
painting  on  ivory  he  had  lessons  from  Henry 
Richter.  Several  miniatures  painted  by  Mr. 
Sartain  are  in  the  possession  of  his  daughter. 
Miss  Emily  Sartain,  principal  of  the  Philadel- 
phia School  of  Design  for  Women. 

One  of  these  miniatures  is  of  the  Reverend 
John  Breckinridge.  The  inscription  in  the 
artist's  own  handwriting  on  the  back  of  this 
miniature  is  : 

Rev.  Jno  Breckinridge 
from  life,  by 

John  Sartain 
in  the  year  1835,  painted  at  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Breckinridge,  on  the  west  side  of  Ninth 
St.  above  Race  St.,  Philadelphia,  about  the  5*^ 
house  from  Race." 

Mr.  Sartain  drew  a  crayon  head  of  Dr.  Breck- 
inridge, which  was  pronounced  by  an  eminent 
Charleston  artist  to  be  ''a  miracle  of  character 
in  drawing.'*  He  also  engraved  a  miniature  of 
Mrs.  Breckinridge,  who  was  a  very  beautiful 
woman,  and  painted  a  portrait  bust  of  her 
father,  the  distinguished  Dr.  Samuel  Miller, 
of  Princeton  College. 

Mr.  Sartain,  whose  life  comprised  the  years, 
eventful  in  both  England  and  America,  between 
15  225 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


1808  and  1897,  possessed  a  mind  stored  with 
interesting  events  from  his  own  experience. 
As  with  the  wand  of  a  magician,  he  could 
transport  his  hearers  to  London  as  it  was  in 
the  later  years  of  George  III.,  when  Benjamin 
West,  as  president  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
was  giving  the  benefit  of  his  ripe  experience 
to  Thomas  Sully,  Charles  R.  Leslie,  and  other 
young  artists  who  were  afterwards  the  Ameri- 
can friends  and  associates  of  Mr.  Sartain. 
Upon  one  occasion  he  took  his  delighted  list- 
eners with  him  to  Charles  Kemble*s  theatre  in 
Covent  Garden,  and  introduced  them  to  the  bril- 
liant display  of  fireworks  at  Vauxhall  Garden 
given  in  1821  upon  the  accession  of  George  IV. 

Mr.  Sartain  came  to  America  in  1830,  and 
was  living  here  when  Henry  Clay,  Daniel 
Webster,  and  Wendell  Phillips  were  in  their 
prime  ;  he  lived  through  the  exciting  years  that 
preceded  the  civil  war,  knew  Grant  and  Lin- 
coln, and  lingered  so  long  amid  the  shadows 
of  the  departing  century  that  it  seemed  as  if  it 
might  be  granted  him  to  behold  the  dawn  of 
another. 

What  shall  the  new  century  bring  to  life,  to 
literature,  and  to  art  ?  we  may  well  ask  as  we 
stand  upon  its  threshold.  Whatever  the  years 
may  bring  in  greater  artistic  achievement,  there 
can  scarcely  arise  in  the  days  to  come  a  nobler 
or  more  sincere  band  of  men  and  women  than 
those  who,  in  the  face  of  uncounted  difficulties, 
have  in  the  last  one  hundred  years  upheld  the 
dignity  and  purity  of  American  art. 

226 


Mrs.  Isaac  Hazlehurst 
By  J.  Henry  Brown 
Page  226 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


CHAPTER  VIII.  MINIATURE  PAINT- 
ING  AS  AN  ART 

BY    EMILY    DRAYTON  TAYLOR 

IN  order  to  review  the  art  of  miniature 
painting  understandingly,  one  should  be- 
gin at  those  early  days  when  this  name 
**  miniature''  was  not  used,  as  now,  to  describe 
a  portrait  painted  on  ivory  and  set  in  a  small 
gold  frame.  Miniature  painting  is  literally 
what  the  word  signifies,  a  painting  in  little,'' 
although  we  find  in  an  excellent  article  on 
miniature  painting  another  explanation  of  the 
word:*  Those  who  illuminated  manuscripts 
were  called  illuminator and  from  the  fact  that 
the  initial  letter  of  a  chapter  of  a  paragraph 
was  painted  red,  the  pigment  of  which  was  the 
Latin  mi7iiumy  or  red  lead,  they  acquired  the 
name  of  miniatori,  from  which  the  word  minia- 
ture  is  formed." 

The  true  miniaturists  were  originally,  then, 
the  decorators  of  old  missals.  At  what  date 
the  term  miniature"  first  arose  in  its  original 
home,  Italy,  and  when  it  began  to  be  applied 
exclusively  to  those  small  portraits,  is  not  yet 
settled.  It  might  be  that  the  idea  of  painting 
a  portrait  in  miniature  of  some  Pope  to  be 
used  by  a  devote  or  king,  or  worn  by  a  states- 
man or  court  lady,  constituted  the  original  germ 


*  "  Miniature  Painting,"  by  Samuel  Wagner,  Junior. 
227 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


from  which  the  miniature  portrait  developed. 
Pepys  never  uses  the  word  miniature,"  but 
always  '^painting  in  little/'  and  Horace  Wal- 
pole  invariably  employs  the  term  miniature." 
We  shall  not  go  far  wrong  in  placing  its  intro- 
duction into  England  during  the  first  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

It  is  interesting  to  bear  in  mind  that  there 
still  exist  in  certain  ancient  choral  books  at 
the  cathedral  of  San  Marco,  in  Florence,  exqui- 
site miniatures  by  Fra  Angelico.  Liberale  da 
Verona  Altavante,  of  Florence,  who  was  a 
celebrated  missal  decorator,  painted  the  one  in 
Brussels  on  which  the  former  regents  of  Bel- 
gium took  their  oaths  of  office.  Two  friends 
of  Giotto,  mentioned  by  Dante,  Oderigi  of 
Agobbio,  and  Fanco  Bolognese,  were  minia- 
turists to  the  Pope,  and  glorified  some  splen- 
did books  for  the  Vatican  library. 

Life-size  portraits  in  oil  colors  on  canvas  are 
not  always  pleasing  objects,  whereas  this  paint- 
ing '*in  little,''  if  not  an  entirely  truthful  like- 
ness, is  at  least  a  charming  souvenir,  an  orna- 
ment embodying  a  history  of  years  long  past, 
or  recalling  many  tender  memories. 

An  increasing  interest  is  shown  of  late  years 
in  this  line  of  portraiture ;  and  a  larger,  more 
intelligent  appreciation  is  given  to  the  few  old 
ones  we  are  fortunate  enough  to  find  preserved. 
The  present  is  an  age  of  revivals,  and  a  regen- 
eration of  the  all  but  dead  art  of  miniature 
painting  is  certainly  interesting. 

Miniature  portrait  painting,  though  described 
228 


Edith  Moore  Taylor 
By  Emily  Drayton  Taylor 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


as  in  little/'  should  be  by  no  means  considered 
a  lesser  art.  The  court  of  Henry  VII.  had  its 
official  miniature  painter,  as,  indeed,  had  almost 
all  the  courts  of  Europe,  and  extravagant  prices 
were  paid  for  these  small  portraits , — sums  which 
we  now,  in  all  our  nineteenth  century  extrava- 
gance, would  hardly  think  of  giving.  Unfortu- 
nately, in  this  form  of  portrait  painting,  as  in 
all  other  branches  of  art,  many  miscalled  artists 
have  dabbled,  and  succeeded  only  in  spoiling 
much  good  vellum,  paper,  or  ivory.  These 
specimens  have  no  place  in  the  history  of  art, 
and  the  names  of  the  painters  are  now  happily 
forgotten. 

Early  in  the  sixteenth  century  this  form  of 
likeness  acquired  a  distinct  position,  and  we 
thereafter  have  no  difficulty  in  tracing  its 
growth  up  to  the  first  half  of  this  century, 
after  which  time  the  art  seems  to  have  de- 
clined. Hans  Holbein  we  may  claim  to  be  one 
of  the  first  miniature  painters,  and,  remember- 
ing that  he  died  in  London  in  1543,  we  may  well 
feel  that  one  of  his  little  pictures  preserved  to 
us  through  all  these  years  is  a  veritable  treas- 
ure. It  must  not  be  thought  that  he  painted 
on  ivory ;  he  used  vellum,  paper,  or  copper. 

The  name  of  Clouet  may  be  said  to  head  the 
list  of  miniature  painters  in  France.  Jean  was 
the  first  of  this  artistic  family,  although  little  is 
known  of  him,  but  his  son,  Jean  Clouet  II., 
was  attached  to  the  court  of  Francis  I.,  and 
on  his  death  his  son,  Francois  Clouet,  became 
court  painter.    This  is  the  Clouet  who  has 

229 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


left  us  so  many  pictures,  miniatures,  and  quaint 
drawings.  Some  little  sketches  of  the  royal 
children  of  Catherine  de  Medicis  are  extant. 
These  were  sent  to  her  from  the  royal  nursery 
at  St.-Germain-en-Laye, — round  and  fat  little 
children,  in  no  wise  suggesting  the  sinister 
ending  of  their  misspent  lives.  There  are 
many  of  these  small  sketches  and  pictures, 
so  at  least  it  may  be  supposed  that  Catherine 
was  a  fond  and  perhaps  anxious  mother.  The 
Clouets  were  a  family  of  painters  ;  after  Jean 
came  Jean  II.,  then  Francois,  who  was  alive  in 
1580,  but  the  dates  are  somewhat  uncertain. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  even  in  those 
early  days  women  had  earned  distinguished 
places  as  miniature  painters.  One  Levina 
Teerlinck,  as  early  as  1560,  was  of  high  repute 
in  England,  and  we  nearly  always  observe  the 
name  of  a  woman  keeping  place  in  popularity, 
touch,  and  quality  with  the  men  in  this  branch 
of  small  portrait  limning. 

The  first  miniature  painter,  whom  we  may 
rightly  so  call,  belonging  to  England  was  Nich- 
olas Hillard,  born  in  1547,  died  in  1619.  Many 
interesting  examples  of  his  art  may  be  seen  at 
Windsor ;  possibly  the  most  notable  is  a  little 
prayer-book,  containing  a  prayer  written  by 
Queen  Elizabeth  herself,  in  six  languages,  with 
a  miniature  of  the  Queen  at  the  commence- 
ment and  one  of  the  Due  d'Alencon  at  the  end. 

A  name  that  should  be  known  and  revered 
by  every  miniature  lover  is  Isaac  Oliver,  who 
died  as  late  as  1617.    His  portrait  of  James  I. 

230 


Mrs.  Clement  B.  Newbold 

(Mary  Scott) 
By  Emily  Drayton  Taylor 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


served  for  a  model  to  Rubens  and  Anthony 
Vandyck  when  they  painted  the  King  after 
his  death.  Oliver's  work  is  strong  and  full  of 
character,  and  his  color  has  lasted  well.  For- 
tunately, some  of  his  miniatures  are  preserved 
to  us.  A  well-known  portrait  by  him  of  Jane 
Seymour,  and  one  of  Shakespeare,  so  called, 
are  in  existence. 

Frederic  Zucchero  painted  during  this  time, 
1574.  He  also  painted  Elizabeth  and  Mary 
Queen  of  Scots.  How  many  miniatures  good 
Queen  Bess  must  have  sat  for !  However,  this 
Zucchero  was  not  court  painter,  or,  at  least,  I 
can  find  nothing  in  the  records  to  this  effect. 
All  through  her  long  reign  the  miniaturist  was 
in  fashion,  and  consequently  flourished.  These 
men  did  not  confine  themselves  exclusively  to 
the  little,"  often  either  copying  from  the  old 
Italian  masters  or  painting  life-size  portraits ; 
and,  indeed,  many  were  engravers  and  gold- 
smiths as  well. 

During  the  reign  of  James  I.  this  art  still 
held  its  place,  many  names  occurring  from 
time  to  time,  and  towards  the  latter  part  Peter 
Oliver,  the  son  of  Isaac,  was  acknowledged  a 
leader  in  this  branch  of  the  art.  He  painted 
for  many  years  most  successfully,  and  died 
as  late  as  1647.  Vandyck  left  many  beautiful 
miniatures,  some  of  which  may  be  seen  in 
England,  and  are  mostly  done  in  oil  color  on 
wood  or  copper. 

Samuel  Cooper  and  John  Hoskins  both 
painted  well,  and  occasionally  one  finds  a 

231 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


miniature  by  one  of  them  outside  of  collections. 
But  Cooper  must  stand  first,  the  Vandyck  of 
painting  in  little,*'  and  any  person  once  having 
seen  his  portraits  will  forever  desire  to  possess 
one.  In  finish,  delicacy  of  touch,  yet  great 
strength,  and  a  certain  look  of  having  been 
good  likenesses,  they  seem  never  to  have  been 
surpassed.  He  painted  Oliver  Cromwell,  and 
this  fine  miniature  has  been  spared  the  barbaric 
ravages  of  the  Commonwealth  period.  Thanks 
to  Pepys's  Diary,  we  have  some  quaint  insight 
into  these  times,  for  there  is  an  entry  of  his 
having  paid  Cooper  for  painting  his  wife  "  £"30 
for  his  work,  and  the  crystal  and  gold  case 
comes  to  £"8.  3s.  4d.  which  I  sent  him  this 
night  that  I  might  be  out  of  debt.-' 

Of  the  works  of  Richard  Gibson  the  dwarf 
many  examples  can  still  be  seen,  and  a  few 
pieces  of  the  handiwork  of  his  daughter,  Susan 
Penelope  Rose,  ;z^<?  Gibson.  She  justly  achieved 
pronounced  success.  The  troubled  times  just 
before  and  after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.  had 
a  sensible  effect  upon  this  as  upon  all  the  other 
arts.  From  the  Commonwealth  period  the 
names  of  few  artists  have  come  down  to  us, 
and  not  until  the  Restoration  does  miniature 
painting  begin  to  be  heard  of  again. 

Sir  Peter  Lely,  whom  few  of  us  associate 
with  miniature  painting,  but  rather  with  large 
canvases  of  stately  dames  with  amazingly  long 
necks  and  longer  hands  and  arms,  yet  acted 
as  instructor  to  many  who  became  miniature 
painters.    He  was,  moreover,  a  good  teacher. 

232 


Madame  Jerome  Bonaparte 
By  Jean  Baptiste  Augustin 
Page  235 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


One  pupil,  Mary  Beale,  became  most  success- 
ful, and  an  interesting  diary  exists,  kept  by  her 
husband,  in  which  the  most  minute  details  of 
her  life  are  written  down.  The  names  of  the 
sitters,  the  prices  paid,  and  even  quaint  little 
notes  of  the  characteristics  of  the  sitters  are 
given.  She  made  a  considerable  income  for 
those  days. 

Thomas  Flatman  painted  at  this  time,  and 
also  practised  law,  like  Charles  Eraser, — a 
strange  combination.  The  short  and  troubled 
reign  of  James  II.  was  most  unfavorable  to  the 
arts ;  nevertheless,  a  few  distinguished  names 
appear,  and  one  of  these,  Francati,  an  Italian, 
possessed  no  mean  talent.  The  reign  of  Wil- 
liam III.  was  rich  and  prolific  in  portrait 
painters,  but  produced  few  miniaturists.  Sir 
Godfrey  Kneller  held  the  chief  place  at  this 
time,  as  Vandyck  had  in  the  previous  reigns. 

Thomas  Sadler  painted  many  miniatures  ; 
the  one  of  John  Bunyan  is  well  known  through 
the  numerous  mezzotints  made  from  it. 

Enamellers  appear  to  have  crept  into  the 
portrait  arts  to  such  an  extent  that  it  affected 
the  paintings  in  little,'*  hence  a  decided  down- 
ward movement  was  felt,  until  Sir  Joshua 
Reynolds  arose  and  gave  to  all  art  a  new  and 
vigorous  vitality. 

Nathaniel  Hone  seems  almost  modern  when 
we  reflect  that  in  1769  he  was  elected  a  Royal 
Academician.  The  father  and  son,  Horace 
Hone,  are  sometimes  confounded,  the  more 
so  as  very  few  of  their  paintings  are  signed, 

233 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


and  even  then  by  only  one  or  more  initial 
letters.  Those,  however,  who  are  familiar 
with  and  can  tell  the  differences  of  touch  and 
color,  and  breadth  of  treatment,  can  readily  dis- 
tinguish between  them. 

Richard  Cosway  is  well  known  to  all,  and 
many  individuals  as  well  as  collections  possess 
examples  of  this  gifted  man's  productions.^ 
He  was  born  at  Tiverton  in  1741.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  world  is  flooded  with  imitations, 
and  no  fourth-class  collector  thinks  anything 
of  showing  you  miniatures  and  assuring  you 
that  they  are  genuine  examples  of  Cosway's 
skill.  Had  he  painted  all  those  attributed  to 
him,  a  fair  allowance  would  be  one  painting 
produced  on  each  day  of  his  life,  and,  even 
remembering  that  he  lived  until  a  recent  date, 
1821,  this  would  not  seem  to  cover  the  market 
supply.  It  must  be  remembered  that  he  never 
signed  a  portrait  on  the  face  side,  but  occa- 
sionally wrote  on  the  back,  "  Ric^^^  Cosway, 
R.A.,  Primarius  Pictor  Serenissimi  Wallise 
Principis  Pinxit,'*  and  sometimes  only  R.  C. 
His  exquisite  coloring  and  happy  composition 
have  led  to  much  imitation,  but  a  true  Cosway 
is  a  priceless  treasure  and  a  possession  of 
which  to  be  genuinely  proud.  His  wife,  Maria 
Cosway,  also  painted,  and  would  seem  to  have 
been  a  woman  of  interesting  personality. 

*  The  Honorable  John  Drayton,  District  Judge  of  the 
United  States  of  America  for  South  Carolina,  and  son  of 
William  Henry  Drayton,  of  South  Carolina,  delegate  to  the 
Continental  Congress,  etc. 

234 


Niece  of  Admiral  Coffin 
By  Richard  Cosway 


Honorable  John  Drayton 
By  Richard  Cosway 
Page  234 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Such  a  name  as  Ozias  Humphrey  can  stand 
even  in  comparison  with  Cosway.  There  were 
several  other  miniaturists  who  painted  well 
at  this  time,  such  as  John  Smart  and  Sam- 
uel Shelley.  The  latter  painted  somewhat  in 
Cosway's  key.  Shelley  possessed  undoubtedly 
great  talent,  and  was  constantly  spoken  of  as 
Cosway's  rival.  Born  in  or  near  Whitechapel, 
he  was  of  humble  origin,  and  was  entirely 
self-taught.  His  work  resembles  Cosway's  in 
many  particulars  ;  the  hair  is  often  painted  in 
much  the  same  way,  and  many  of  his  minia- 
tures are  doubtless  regarded  as  genuine  Cos- 
ways  they  are  not,  however,  to  be  looked 
upon  as  copies,  or  imitations  in  the  ordinary 
sense. 

James  Nixon,  Henry  Bone,  Henry  Edridge, 
George  Engleheart,  Sir  Henry  Raeburn,  Wil- 
liam Wood,  and  others  are  English  miniaturists 
of  high  rank.  In  France  Jean  Baptiste  Augustin 
was  miniaturist  to  Louis  XVIII.,  and  was  ex- 
celled only  by  Isabey.*   Jean  Baptiste  Isabey 


^  A  beautiful  miniature  by  Isabey  of  Richard  Worsam 
Meade  is  in  the  possession  of  his  descendants.  This  minia- 
ture, which  was  painted  when  Mr.  Meade  was  in  France, 
at  about  the  age  of  nineteen,  is  a  charming  specimen  of 
Isabey*s  work.  To  add  to  its  value,  it  is  signed  "  Isabey" 
on  the  face.  Richard  Worsam  Meade  was  a  son  of  George 
Meade,  of  Philadelphia,  and  Henrietta  Constantia  Wor- 
sam, whose  father  was  King's  Councillor  for  the  island  of 
Barbadoes.  Mr.  Meade  married  Margaret  Coates  Butler, 
and  their  son  was  the  distinguished  General  George  Gordon 
Meade,  of  Pennsylvania. 

235 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


the  great  was  born  at  Nancy  in  1767,  and  died  in 
Paris  in  1855.  He  claimed  that  he  had  painted 
every  celebrated  character  in  Europe,  and  was 
a  pupil  of  David  and  a  friend  of  Napoleon. 
Isabey  rose  from  being  a  poor  fellow  who 
painted  boxes  and  medallions  to  be  the  Court 
painter  of  Napoleon  I.,  Louis  XVIII.,  Charles 
X.,  Louis  Philippe,  and  down  to  Napoleon  III., 
who  gave  him  a  pension.* 

Andrew  Robertson,  next  in  order  of  time, 
greets  us  with  his  beautiful,  strong,  highly 
refined  work,  and  may  fairly  be  regarded  as 
the  link  between  the  Old  World  methods  and 
the  New,  for  his  brother,  Archibald  Robert- 
son, came  to  this  country,  working  here  all 
his  life,  and  corresponding  constantly  with 
his  brother  in  London.  A  most  interesting 
collection  of  his  letters  and  papers  has  just 
been  published  by  his  daughter.  Miss  Emily 
Robertson,  in  London.  Parts  of  this  book 
are  instructive,  and  others  again  delightfully 

*  A  miniature  preserved  by  the  Wetherill  family  and  attri- 
buted to  Isabey,  although  unsigned,  like  so  many  other  minia- 
tures of  the  time,  is  of  a  French  gentleman  of  distinction, 
an  tmigrt  who  was  hospitably  entertained  by  Mr.  Samuel 
Wetherill.  Before  leaving  Philadelphia  the  young  French- 
man, whose  name  has  never  been  revealed  to  this  genera- 
tion, presented  Mr.  John  Wetherill,  the  son  of  his  host, 
with  his  miniature,  which  bears  upon  the  reverse  the  initials 
H.  R.  in  seed-pearls.  A  romantic  history,  confided  by  the 
young  Frenchman  to  Mr.  Wetherill,  was  never  divulged  by 
him,  thus  lending  a  charm  of  mystery  and  adventure  to  the 
handsome  face  that  looks  forth  from  Isabey*s  miniature 
upon  the  very  different  American  world  of  to-day. 

236 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


interesting,  giving  an  insight  into  the  life  of 
that  time.* 

It  is  a  strange  coincidence  that  Edward  G. 
Malbone  should  have  been  born  the  same  year 
as  Robertson,  1777,  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
This  great  miniature  painter  lived  in  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  for  many  years,  which 
accounts  for  the  numerous  portraits  from  his 
brush  found  there.  He,  however,  painted  in 
almost  all  the  large  cities  of  America,  and 
died  in  1807.  The  beauty  of  his  coloring  and 
the  perfection  of  his  drawing  satisfy  our  every 
demand.  This  period  stands  pre-eminent  for 
all  that  is  best  in  this  branch  of  the  art,  and 
we  should  regard  the  products  of  that  earlier 
time  as  guides,  models,  and  inspirations  in  all 
modern  work. 

Of  Malbone's  great  friend,  Charles  Eraser, 
words  of  praise  should  not  be  wanting,  al- 
though he  cannot  be  compared  with  Malbone 
in  either  drawing  or  the  delicate  sense  of  color. 
Eraser  painted  during  a  long  period  of  years, 
mostly  in  his  native  State,  South  Carolina. 

The  name  of  Edward  Miles  is  not  so  well 
known  as  his  fine,  strong  work  deserves.  He 
reminds  us  in  his  treatment  of  George  Engle- 
heart,  and  one  can  but  wonder  if  they  painted 
together  in  London,  where  Miles  resided  for  a 
time.  He  also  painted  in  Russia,  and  after- 
wards, in  later  life,  in  Philadelphia. 


*  "  Letters  and  Papers  of  Andrew  Robertson,  A.M." 
Eyre  &  Spottiswoode,  London. 

237 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


Viewing  the  miniature  of  to-day  with  the 
glamour  of  the  ancients  yet  upon  us  is  a  hard 
task,  for  until  recent  years — very  recent — it 
was  considered  a  dead  art,  photography  having 
been  thought  to  adequately  replace  or  to  have 
killed  it ;  and,  indeed,  the  rivalry  of  sun  pict- 
ures may  well  be  feared,  because  if  the  minia- 
ture portrait  be  not  photographically  exact,  it 
is  not,  as  a  rule,  thought  to  be  sufficiently  like, 
and  photographic  exactness  and  artistic  con- 
ception are  not  near  of  kin.  It  is  true,  the 
photograph  may  be  a  legitimate  help,  and 
often  is  useful,  in  supplying  minor  details,  and 
thus  relieving  the  sitter  of  many  weary  hours. 
If  we  could  have  seen  the  original  and  the 
miniature  side  by  side  in  the  case  of  even  so 
great  a  man  as  Oliver  himself,  I  doubt  if  we 
should  have  found  any  but  a  ''character  por- 
trait''— a  good  impression  of  the  person,  but 
by  no  means  a  photographic  image. 

Whether  this  reawakening  of  the  portrait 
miniature  has  come  in  any  permanency  or 
vigor  to  make  it  lasting,  time  alone  will  show ; 
but  surely  these  lovely  images  are  delightful 
possessions  by  which  to  recall  friends  or  loved 
ones,  and  are  doubly  satisfactory,  furnishing 
the  possibility  of  constant  and  convenient  as- 
sociation; for  the  little  paintings  can  travel 
with  us,  where  a  larger  likeness  could  scarce 
be  moved  from  the  wall. 

Ivory  is  particularly  well  adapted  for  the 
base  on  which  to  delineate  human  tones  and 
textures,  as  its  soft  and  sensitive  surface  re- 

238 


Mrs.  Richard  C.  Derby 
By  Edward  Greene  Malbone 
Page  153 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


spends  readily  to  the  touch  of  the  brush,  and 
the  colors  can,  when  rightly  handled,  be  made 
to  appear  both  rich  and  brilliant. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  aright  the  work 
of  those  who  pass  current  now  as  able  masters 
of  this  art.  It  would  be  unfair  in  any  brief 
chapter  such  as  this  to  attempt  to  institute 
comparisons.  We  must  remember,  in  forming 
our  judgments,  that  it  is  a  portrait  that  is  at- 
tempted, and  an  able  modern  critic  has  declared 
that,  while  the  first  requisite  in  a  portrait  is 
exactitude  in  respect  to  the  likeness,  the  essen- 
tial point  is  that  the  deeper  qualities  of  personal 
appearance  must  be  portrayed.  To  do  this 
thing  and  to  succeed  in  producing  a  satisfactory 
result  which  shall  be  of  lasting  value  (not  neces- 
sarily satisfying  the  shallow  casual  criticism  of 
relatives  and  friends),  it  is  imperative  that  the 
capacity  for  acute  critical  observation  should 
reside  in  the  artist.  It  must  be  in  his  or  her 
power  to  look  far  down  into  a  human  character 
and  delineate  the  best  that  can  be  revealed, 
and  this  best  must  be  the  basal  qualities  which 
are  inherent,  and  not  necessarily  obvious  or 
patent  to  all.  Herein  educated  judgment  and 
high  selective  powers  are  absolutely  needed. 
If  these  be  absent  in  the  artist,  the  product 
will  be  no  dignified  creation,  but  merely  a 
simpering  sketch  of  superficial  points,  pos- 
sessing no  real  value.  Moreover,  it  is  most 
unfortunate,  though  not  necessarily  impairing 
the  value  of  the  work  from  a  stand-point  of 
criticism  by  fellow-artists,  when  a  painter 

239 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


adopts  too  many  tricks,  mannerisms,  or  pecu- 
liarities in  treatment  which  are  either  bizarre 
or  merely  evidences  of  fashionable  craze. 

The  primary  colors  undoubtedly  do  combine 
to  form  the  tones  which  are  used  in  giving 
an  imitation  of  life-like  appearances ;  there 
are  also  undercurrents  of  purples  and  greens 
which  are  not  obvious  to  the  casual,  untrained 
eye.  But  that  these  should  appear  streak-like, 
dashed  across  a  picture  in  such  a  way  as  to  be 
offensively  obtrusive,  certainly  does  not  aid 
in  securing  a  life-like  effect,  which  is  the  very 
essence  of  portraiture.  And  while,  indeed,  all 
these  brush  marks  may  be  admissible  in  large, 
bold  canvases,  to  be  viewed  from  adequate  and 
varying  distances,  they  seem  to  be  quite  out  of 
place  in  a  picture  designed  to  be  best  seen  and 
appreciated  at  the  distance  of  a  foot  or  two  from 
the  eye.  Miniature  painting  is  a  limited  art. 
Good  work  can  undoubtedly  be  done  in  it  in 
various  styles  and  manners,  but  there  is  prac- 
tically only  one  style  to  which  it  is  fully  adapted. 
The  creamy,  soft  tints  are  not  to  be  obtained 
in  water-color,  per  se,  and  in  oil-color  seldom. 
These  are  particularly  to  be  found  in  ivory, 
which  should  be  made  to  do  its  own  work, 
showing  through  as  much  as  possible,  and  as- 
suming that  warmth  and  depth  in  places  which 
almost  nothing  else  can  give. 

Those  who  begin  to  paint  miniatures  should 
possess  a  thorough  knowledge  of  drawing, 
without  which  nothing  of  any  real  or  perma- 
nent value  can  be  accomplished.    The  first 

240 


Russian  Princesses 
By  Edward  Miles 
Page  210 


Unfinished  miniature 
By  Edward  Miles 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


step  in  painting  a  portrait  on  ivory  is  to  draw 
in  lightly  with  a  very  hard  pencil  the  general 
outline,  and  barely  indicate  where  the  features 
are  to  be.  Do  not  rub  out  much  with  india- 
rubber,  as  that  will  make  the  ivory  glossy  and 
therefore  difficult  to  work  on  afterwards ;  but 
take  some  clean  water  and  a  brush,  or  a  fine 
rag  on  the  end  of  a  pointed  stick,  with  which 
the  mistake  can  be  safely  removed.  Above 
all,  the  ivory  should  be  kept  ever  clean  and 
fresh,  otherwise  the  work  will  have  a  muddy, 
dull  look.  After  the  features  are  placed,  take  a 
fine  sable  brush,  and  with  a  tint  made  of  crim- 
son lake,  burnt  sienna,  and  neutral  tint,  then 
work  them  up,  indicating  the  strong  shadows 
and  the  hair,  or,  rather,  the  general  outline  of 
the  hair  masses.  To  get  the  greatest  brilliancy 
in  hair  effects,  wash  on  the  brightest  colors  first, 
then  work  up  the  deeper  shadows  later.  The 
dress  or  coat  or  drapery  should  then  be  put  in, 
not  attempting  too  much  at  first,  but  rather 
striving  for  a  general  effect.  It  is  well  after 
this  to  put  in  the  flesh  color,  vermilion  and 
yellow  ochre ;  a  broad,  flat  wash,  not  quite  so 
strong,  on  the  high  lights  on  the  forehead; 
then  broadly  work  in  the  general  mass  of 
shadow,  keeping  well  in  mind  the  salient 
points  of  likeness,  and  learning,  above  all, 
what  not  to  see,  as  well  as  what  to  see. 
Work  the  warm  tones  on  the  upper  part  of  the 
face,  and  around  the  chin  and  under  the  lower 
lip  some  tones  of  green,  and  a  little  yellow  on 
the  throat;  but  this  all  varies  with  different 

1 6  241 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


people,  just  as  some  skins  have  a  violet  and 
others  a  green  or  a  yellow  undertone.  The 
upper  lip  may  be  made  of  a  more  decided  car- 
mine, the  lower  of  a  redder;  shade.  The  hair 
should  be  put  in  with  broad  washes,  always  in 
the  direction  needed,  and  nearly  in  the  value 
ultimately  desired,  keeping  the  shadows  warm 
if  there  is  much  color  in  the  hair,  and  cool 
where  the  light  is  high  on  top,  except  just 
where  the  hair  turns  over  in  the  light,  and 
where,  if  the  shade  is  dark,  the  full,  warm 
color  appears.  In  working  on  the  hair,  always 
make  the  strokes  go  in  the  direction  in  which 
the  hair  lies.  Hair  must  not  look  like  flesh,  nor, 
again,  have  the  same  texture  as  either  back- 
ground or  drapery,  and  can  be  painted  with  a 
broad  touch.  Drapery  must  be  of  yet  another 
texture.  This  relieves  the  uniform  flat  ef- 
fects so  often  seen  in  miniatures,  a  flatness 
utterly  at  variance  with  good  portrait  art. 
Body  color  (white)  should  be  avoided  as  much 
as  possible,  and  never  used  in  the  flesh,  or 
there  is  sure  to  come  from  it  a  thick,  pasty, 
opaque  look,  and  the  picture  at  once  loses  its 
charm.  Body  color  may  be  used  in  drapery 
mixed  with  colors  ;  however,  to  say  that  this 


Note. — Through  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell, 
we  are  able  to  reproduce  on  the  opposite  page  a  miniature 
portrait  of  the  physician,  author,  and  poet,  of  whom  his 
native  city  is  justly  proud.  This  high  esteem  has  been 
demonstrated  recently  by  the  enthusiastic  reception  and  ap- 
preciation of  his  last  book,  "  Hugh  Wynne,  Free  Quaker," 
an  interesting  chronicle  of  Old  Philadelphia. 

242 


Dr.  S.  Weir  Mitchell 
By  Emily  Drayton  Taylor 
Page  242 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


is  right  or  wrong  is  impossible,  as  there  are 
fine  examples  of  drapery  done  in  both  ways. 
A  background  is,  though  seemingly  simple  and 
secondary,  a  most  important  factor  in  any 
portrait,  and  none  the  less  so  in  a  miniature. 
One  may  recall  here  the  incident  of  the  young 
man  who  went  to  Vandyck's  studio  wishing  to 
find  work  with  him.  The  great  master  told  him 
he  needed  no  one  else.  But,  Master,''  the 
boy  exclaimed,  *'I  could  at  least  paint  your 
backgrounds."  In  that  case,*'  said  Vandyck, 
**you  are  the  very  fellow  I  have  been  looking 
for  all  my  life,  for  I  can  never  satisfactorily 
paint  my  own  backgrounds." 

The  soft  gray  effects,  shading  on  either  the 
brown,  carmine,  and  umber,  or  the  blue,  Payne's 
gray,  and  green,  are  usually  satisfactory.  The 
clouds  and  blue  sky  so  much  used  by  Cosway 
and  Trott  are  also  very  good,  but  were  rather 
better  when  back  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
with  powdered  hair.  A  light  background  often 
makes  the  skin  appear  darker.  The  outdoor 
effects  of  green  are  most  becoming  to  flesh, 
but  great  care  must  be  used  in  the  tones  of 
greens  to  keep  them  far  enough  away,  for  a 
background  should  always  be  merely  a  back- 
ground, and  never  intrude.  A  consideration 
of  the  greatest  importance  is  to  secure  a  har- 
mony of  color  as  well  as  of  form.  In  order 
to  do  this  a  careful  selection  of  the  general 
scheme  should  be  made.  A  spotty  compo- 
sition is  to  be  avoided,  and  far  more  depends 
on  this  than  is  generally  supposed.    A  min- 

243 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


iature,  though  so  small,  can  express  depth, 
atmosphere,  and  sentiment,  but  overmuch 
should  not  be  attempted,  or  it  fails  of  half  its 
charm,  and  individuality,  which  should  be  pre- 
served in  all  simplicity. 

Work  should  be  done  from  life  always,  for 
in  no  other  way  can  a  life-like  reproduction  or 
effect  be  attained.  The  colors  must  be  seen, 
not  imagined.  This  need  not  strictly  hold 
good  for  drapery,  as  that  can  be  worked  up, 
after  getting  its  general  effect  on  the  sitter,  by 
having  the  dress  or  coat  placed  beside  one  on 
a  manikin,  which  has  a  more  quiet  personality, 
and  therefore  gives  more  time  to  finish  a  fold 
or  a  shadow  with  thought  and  care. 

The  subject  of  miniature  painting  should  not 
be  left  without  a  word  about  the  frame.  In  all 
pictures  the  frame  plays  an  important  part,  but 
especially  so  in  miniatures.  Great  simplicity, 
with  great  delicacy,  must  be  aimed  at.  Gold  or 
silver  gilt  should  be  used,  as  the  yellow  of  this 
metal  brings  out  the  colors  of  the  painting  best. 
The  goldsmiths  of  the  early  part  of  this  century 
seem  to  have  known  the  secret  of  designing  the 
proper  frames,  and  we  cannot  do  better  than 
to  pattern  ours  on  their  models.  Old  frames 
may  occasionally  be  bought,  and  a  skilful 
workman  can  make  fair  reproductions. 

The  name  and  date  in  full  should  always  be 
engraved  on  the  frame.  If  this  had  been  more 
frequently  done,  some  beautiful  old  miniatures 
we  have,  of  whom  and  by  whom  is  not  known, 
would  possess  a  more  vital  interest. 

244 


HEIRLOOMS    IN  MINIATURES 


And,  finally,  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that 
in  passing  judgment  on  the  qualities  of  a  minia- 
ature  portrait,  this  can  only  be  satisfactorily 
done  by  holding  it  in  one's  own  hand  and  in 
a  proper  light.  To  attempt  to  criticise  these 
little  portraits  while  hanging  upon  a  wall  more 
or  less  distant  from  the  eye  would  be  unfair 
to  the  technique  or  values  of  the  work. 


245 


INDKX 


A 

Abercrombie,  General,  136. 

Adams,  John,  gi,  105. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  105. 

Addison,  John,  ig,  20. 

Addison,  Rev.  Henry,  35. 

Alden,  John,  2g. 

Alexander,  Cosmo,  artist,  izg. 

Allen,  Joseph,  52. 

Allen,  William,  42,  43. 

Allston,  Washington,  studies 
with  Samuel  King,  74,  I4g; 
friendship  with  Malbone,  150, 
151,  165 ;  mentioned,  22. 

Amory,  Martha  B.,  "  Life  of  Cop- 
ley" by,  57,  sg,  61,  73. 

Andrd,  Major  John,  106. 

Andrews,  William  Loring,  138. 

Anthony,  Captain  Joseph,  Jr., 
miniature  of,  124. 

Apthorp,  the  Misses,  miniatures 
of,  by  Trumbull,  105. 

Armstrong,  Arthur,  215. 

Arnold,  Gen.  Benedict,  103,  106. 

Audubon,  John  J.,  ig2,  igg. 

Augustin,  Jean  Baptiste,  minia- 
tures by,  232,  235. 

Avery,  S.  P.,  of  New  York,  ^^. 

B 

Bainbridge,  Commodore,  igi. 
Baker,  George  A.,  miniature  by, 
202. 

Baker,  William   S.,  American 

author,  78,  gs,  132. 
Ballard,  Com.  Henry  E.,  202. 


Banister,  John,  Jr.,  204. 
Bard,  Dr.  Samuel,  of  New  York, 
130. 

Bard,  Peter,  40. 

Barker,  Captain  Joseph,  138. 

Barnes,  Mrs.,  English  actress, 

2i7-2ig. 
Barry,  James,  44,  68. 
Bassett,  Richard,  I3g. 
Bayard,  Colonel  Nicholas,  27. 
Bayard,  Elizabeth  Rynders,  2g. 
Beach,  Mrs.  Moses  S.,  134. 
Beale,  Mary,  233. 
Beechey,  Sir  William,  182,  209. 
Bellamont,  Governor,  27. 
Belzons,  Mr.,  painter,  178. 
Bembridge,  Henry,  24. 
Biddle,  Colonel  Clement,  160, 161. 
Biddle,  General  Thomas,  i6x. 
Biddle,  Hon.  Craig,  161. 
Biddle,  Mary  (Mrs.  Thomas  Cad- 

walader),  161. 
Biddle,  Mrs.  Clement,  160,  161. 
Biddle,  Mrs.  Edward,  miniature 

by  Freeman,  ig4,  207;  beauty 

of,  igs. 

Biddle,  Mrs.  Nicholas,  portrait 

by  Sully,  igs. 
Biddle,  Nicholas,  verses  by,  160, 

161 ;  mentioned,  igs,  207. 
Biddle,  Rebecca  (Mrs.  Nathaniel 

Chapman),    anecdote  about, 

160;  verses,  161-163;  marriage, 

164. 

Birch,  Thomas,  143. 
Birch,  William,  142. 
Bispham,  Joseph,  208. 


INDEX 


Black,  William,  95. 
Blackburn,  Jonathan  B.,  38,  52, 
104. 

Bleecker,  Alexander,  miniature 
painted  by  Malbone,  165. 

Bleecker,  Mrs.  Alexander,  min- 
iature by  Malbone,  frontis- 
piece, described,  165. 

Blodget,  Mrs.  Samuel,  124. 

Bogardus,  Mrs.  Everardus  (An- 
neke  Jans),  26. 

Bogardus,  Parson  Everardus,  28. 

Bogart,  James,  97-99,  126. 

Bond,  Eliza,  201. 

Bond,  William,  201. 

Bond,  Williamina,  second  wife 
of  General  Cadwalader,  32. 

Bone,  Henry,  235. 

Bordley,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  James 
Gibson),  87, 153. 

Bordley,  John  Beale,  87,  208. 

Bordley,  Mathias,  89. 

Bordley,  Thomas,  89. 

Botta,  Mrs.Vincenzo,2i2,2i3,2X4. 

Boudinot,  Elias,  139. 

Bowdoin,  Elizabeth  (Lady  Tem- 
ple), 55. 

Bowdoin,  James,  Governor  of 

Massachusetts,  55. 
Bradford,  Charles,  118,  138. 
Breck,  Mrs.  Samuel,  142. 
Breckinridge,  Mrs.  John,  225. 
Breckinridge,  Rev.  John,  225. 
Brehan,  Madame  de,  no. 
Brewer,  John,  83. 
Brewer,  Rachel,  83.    (See  Mrs. 

Charles  Willson  Peale.) 
Bridport,  Richard,  miniatures 

by,  204. 

Brown,  John  Henry,  miniatures 
by,  214-216,  219,  221  ;  paints 
miniature  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, 223,  224. 

Bruce,  Dr.  Alexander,  portrait 
of,  139. 

Bryant,  William  Cullen,  154, 155. 
Buchanan,  President,  219,  221, 
223. 


248 


Burd,  Colonel  James,  205. 

Burgoyne,  General,  79. 

Butler,  Elizabeth  Coates,  146. 

Butler,  Margaret  Coates  (Mrs. 
Richard  W.  Meade),  202,  235. 

Butler,  Mrs.  John,  194. 

Bynner,  E.  L.,  author,  28,  29. 

Byrd,  Colonel  William,  of  Vir- 
ginia, 204. 


Cadwalader,  Frances  (Lady  Ers- 
kine),  170. 

Cadwalader,  General  John,  min- 
iature of,  32 ;  portrait  by  Peale, 
89. 

Cadwalader,  John,  early  settler, 
33. 

Cadwalader,  Maria  (Mrs.  Samuel 
Ringgold),  32. 

Cadwalader,  Mrs.  John  (Eliza- 
beth Lloyd),  miniature  of,  32. 

Cadwalader,  Mrs.Thomas  (Mary 
Biddle),  161. 

Cadwalader,  Thomas,  161,  164. 

Csesar,  Alice  (Mrs.  William  Rod- 
ney), 56. 

Calahan,  John,  100. 

Calder,  Sir  Henry,  140. 

Caldwell,  David,  194. 

Caldwell,  Mary,  138. 

Callender,  Rev.  John,  23. 

Callis,  Eleanor,  36. 

Calvert,  Benjamin,  87. 

Cantir,  Joshua,  167. 

Carey,  Edward  L.,  165,  200. 

Carignan,  Count  of,  57. 

Carroll,  Banister,  87. 

Carroll,  Charles,  87, 139. 

Cary,  Samuel,  55. 

Champlin,  Christopher  Grant, 
St.  Memin  portrait  of,  138,  139 ; 
mentioned,  125, 175. 

Champlin,  Margaret  (Mrs.  Ben- 
jamin Mason), belleandbeauty, 

57,  175. 
Chandler,  Thomas,  153. 
Chapman,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  164. 


INDEX 


Chapman,  Mrs.  Nathaniel,  164. 

(See  Rebecca  Biddle.) 
Charlotte,  Queen  of  England,  54, 

64,  66,  116,  117. 
Cheney,  John,  214. 
Cheney,  Seth  W.,  214. 
Chew,  Benjamin,  Chief-Justice, 

113. 

Chew,  the  Misses,  112,  113,  X14. 

Clark,  Dr.  John  Y.,  191. 

Clarke,  Richard,  57,  62. 

Clarke,  Susannah  F.,  57.  (See 
Mrs.  John  S.  Copley.) 

Claypoole,  James,  early  Ameri- 
can artist,  68,  6g. 

Claypoole,  John,  68. 

Clifton,  Anna  Maria,  140. 

Clifton,  Eleanor,  St.  Memin  por- 
trait of,  139. 

Clinton,  Governor,  179. 

Clinton,  Mrs.  De  Witt,  139. 

Clouet,  Francois,  229,  230. 

Clouet,  Jean,  father  and  son,  229, 
230. 

Clymer,  George,  170. 

Coates,  Samuel,  45. 

Cocke,  Major-General  John,  113. 

Coffin,  Martha,  153.  (See  Mrs. 
Richard  C.  Derby.) 

Cogswell,  Dr.  Mason  F.,  112. 

Colden,  Dr.  Cadwallader,  71. 
'  Coleman,  Anne,  engaged  to  James 
Buchanan,  222. 

Coleman,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Eugene 
Livingston),  222. 

Coleman,  Mrs.  James,  216. 

Coleman,  Sarah,  222. 

Coles,  Mrs.  Isaac,  134. 

Conyngham,  Mrs.  David  H., 
miniature  of,  141. 

Cooper,  Samuel,  231,  232. 

Copley,  John  Singleton,  pioneer 
in  American  art,  38 ;  early  ad- 
vantages, 51,  52;  examples  of 
American  work,  53,  75;  Eng- 
lish paintings  of,  54,  72,  73,  183 ; 
miniatures  by,  55,  56 ;  mar- 
riage, 57 ;  love  of  color  and 


texture,  59-62 ;  assists  C.  W, 
Peale,  82 ;  surety  for  Trum- 
bull, 108 ;  mentioned,  78,  79,  81, 
104,  151. 

Copley,  Mrs.  John  Singleton 
(Susannah  Clarke),  57,  58, 61, 62. 

Cosway,  Maria,  paints  minia- 
tures, no,  III,  234. 

Cosway,  Richard,  excellence  of 
work,  76,  151,  169,  235;  minia- 
tures by,  234. 

Craig,  Charles,  of  Dublin,  75. 

Craig,  John,  of  Philadelphia,  75. 

Craig,  Margaret  M.  (Mrs.  John 
Craig),  miniature  of,  75,  76. 

Craige,  Mrs.  Seth,  miniature  of, 
216 ;  letter  of,  217-219. 

Cromwell,  Elizabeth,  68. 

Cromwell,  Miss  (Mrs.  Lee),  X9. 

Cruikshank,  Clementina,  142. 

Cunningham,  Allan,  author,  43, 
45, 1". 

Cushman,  George  Hewitt,  min- 
iatures by,  211-214. 
Custis,  Elizabeth,  124. 
Custis,  Nellie,  124,  153. 


Dana,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William, 
miniatures  by  Malbone,  152. 

Darley,  F.  O.  C,  189. 

Darling,  Mrs.  C.  W.,  131. 

Darlington,  Dr.  William,  93. 

Davis,  Eliza  (Mrs.  William 
Dana),  miniature  by  Malbone, 
152. 

Davis,  Major  Robert,  152. 

Dawes,  Thomas,  105. 

De  Broglie,  describes  Miss 
Champlin,  175. 

De  Peyster,  Elizabeth,  96-99. 
(See  Mrs.  C.  W.  Peale.) 

De  Peyster,  Mrs.  William,  99. 

De  Peyster,  Nicholas,  98. 

De  Peyster,  William,  98, 99,  126. 

Derby,  Mrs.  Richard  C,  minia- 
ture by  Malbone,  153,  238. 

Derby,  Richard  C,  153. 


249 


INDEX 


Dexter,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles 
P.,  of  Massachusetts,  191. 

Dillwyn,  William,  33. 

Dinsmore,  Mrs.  Julia  S.,  135. 

Drayton,  Colonel  William,  of 
South  Carolina,  miniature  of, 
by  Fraser,  168. 

Drayton,  Hon.  John,  of  South 
Carolina,  miniature  of,  234. 

Drayton,  Mrs.  William  (Maria 
M.  Heyward),  168. 

Drexel,  Mrs.  A.  J.,  216. 

Duche,  Rev.  Jacob,  42,  142,  143. 

Duche,  Thomas  Spence,  Ameri- 
can artist,  143. 

Du  Gue,  Elizabeth,  150. 

Dulaney,  Daniel,  87. 

Dulaney,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter, 
18-21. 

Duncan,  General  William,  igx. 
Duncan,  Mrs.  William  (Anna  C. 

Peale),  igi. 
Dunlap,    William,    author  of 

**  Arts  of  Design,"  21,  25, 68,  72, 

81,  121,  123,  140,  170,  177-180, 

184. 

Duplessis,  Joseph  Sifrede,  paints 
miniature  of  Dr.  Franklin,  141. 


E 

Earle,  Ralph,  200. 

Ellis,  Mrs.  T.  de  la  Roche,  146. 

Ellsworth,  Oliver,  114. 

Emlen,  Anne  (Mrs.  Charles  W. 

Hare),  195. 
Emlen,  Mrs.  Samuel,  miniature 

of,  33. 
Emlen,  Samuel,  33. 
Engleheart,    George,  English 

miniaturist,  210,  235,  237. 
Erskine,  David  Montagu,  170. 
Erskine,  David  Stuart,  Earl  of 

Buchan,  130,  131. 
Etting,  Benjamin,  204. 
Etting,  J.  Marx,  204. 
Eve,  Sarah,  36,  37,  142. 
Everett,  Edward,  223. 


Falconnet,  John,  57. 

Farley,  Elizabeth  Carter,  minift« 
ture  of,  204,  205. 

Farington,  English  artist,  63,  64. 

Farley,  James  Parke,  204. 

Feke,  Robert,  early  American 
painter,  23,  38. 

Fenno,  Eliza,  154.  (See  Mrs.  G. 
C.  Verplanck.) 

Fenno,  John  Ward,  155. 

Few,  William,  134. 

Field,  Robert,  engraver  and 
painter,  132,  169,  170. 

Flatman,  Thomas,  233. 

Ford,  Colonel  Jacob,  of  New 
Jersey,  167,  168. 

Ford,  Mary  T.,  miniature  of,  by 
Fraser,  167,  168. 

Francis,  Mrs.  Tench  (Hannah 
M.  Roberts),  127. 

Francis,  Mrs.  Willing,  207. 

Francis,  Tench,  23. 

Francis,  Tench,  Jr.,  miniature 
by  James  Peale,  127. 

Franklin,  Dr.  Benjamin,  assists 
Miss  Shewell  to  elope,  50 ;  por- 
trait by  Matthew  Pratt,  71; 
engraving  by  C.  W.  Peale,  95 ; 
introduces  Trumbull  to  West, 
105;  wax  portrait  by  Mrs. 
Wright,  116,  117;  miniature  by 
R.  Fulton,  141 ;  a  friend  of  Mary 
Stevenson,  193,  194. 

Fraser,  Charles,  practises  law  in 
Charleston,  150,  177,  233 ;  meets 
Malbone,  150, 151, 166;  painting 
miniatures  in  South  Carolina, 
167,  169,  237 ;  mentioned,  22,  62, 
76,  172. 

Fraser,  General  Simon,  108. 
Frazier,  artist  in  Maryland,  81, 
82. 

Freeman,  George,  miniatures 
by,  172,  194,  206,  207. 

Freeman,  James  E.,  206,  207. 

Fulton,  Robert,  artist  and  in- 
ventor, 140-Z42. 


250 


INDEX 


G 

Gadsden,  Anne  (Mrs.  William 

Drayton),  i68. 
Gainsborough,  Thomas,  44,  X2i, 

151,  182. 

Galloway,   Anne  (Mrs.  Joseph 

Pemberton),  14. 
Gerry,    Mrs.     Elbridge  (Ann 

Thompson),  134. 
Gibson,  Mrs.  James,  153. 
Gibson,  Richard,  232. 
Gillespie,  Mrs.  £.  D.,  141. 
Gilpin,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  D., 

223. 

Girard,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Dominique 
Lallemand),  miniature  of,  igi. 

Girard,  Jean,  191. 

Girard,  Stephen,  191. 

Glen,  Catharine,  136. 

Glen,  Johannes,  136. 

Godfrey,  Thomas,  friend  of 
West,  42. 

Goodridge,  Sarah,  paints  minia- 
tures, 25;  studies  with  Stuart, 
197;  paints  miniature  of  Stuart, 
198. 

Gough,  Mrs.  Prudence,  16. 
Gratz,  Rachel,  miniature  of,  154, 
x6o. 

Gratz,  Rebecca,  miniature  of, 
154 ;  friendship  with  Irving, 
158;  loveliness  of  character, 
159,  160. 

Greene, General  Nathanael,  min- 
iature of,  113. 

Greenup,  Christopher,  Governor 
of  Kentucky,  miniature  of,  127. 

Griffitts,  Hester  (Mrs.  James 
Montgomery),  91. 

Griffitts,  William,  91. 

Grimk6,  Colonel,  114. 

H 

Hadfield,  George,  110. 
Hall,  Anne,  paints  miniatures, 
193. 

Halpine,  Frederick,  74. 


Hamilton,  Governor  James,  71. 

Handy,  Major  John,  164. 

Hare,  Charles  W.,  195. 

Hare,  Mrs.  Charles  W.,  minia- 
ture of,  195. 

Hare,  Rt.  Rev.  William  Hobart, 
195. 

Harlan,  Dr.  Richard,  192. 

Harlan,  Mrs.  Richard,  minia- 
ture of,  192. 

Hart,  Charles  Henry,  15,  52,  69, 
70,  78,  146,  191. 

Hartley,  Colonel  Thomas,  206. 

Hartley,  Mrs.  Thomas,  206. 

Hazard,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  153. 

Hazlehurst,  Isaac,  222,  223. 

Hazlehurst,  Mrs.  Isaac  (Caroline 
Jacobs),  221,  222,  223. 

Heaton,  F.,  of  New  Haven,  146. 

Henry,  Hon.  Alexander,  216. 

Henry,  Hon.  William,  40. 

Hesselius,  Andreas,  Swedish 
missionary,  15. 

Hesselius,  Charlotte  (Mrs. 
Thomas  J.Johnson),  verses  by, 
17, 18;  marriage,  18,  19. 

Hesselius,  Eliza  (Mrs.  Walter 
Dulaney,  Jr.),  17, 18,  19,  20. 

Hesselius,  Gustavus,  painter 
and  organ-builder,  12-15,  23, 
38,  75,  146 ;  paints  in  Maryland, 
82. 

Hesselius,  John,  artist,  son  of 
Gustavus,  12,  14;  living  in 
Philadelphia,  15 ;  marriage,  16, 
17 ;  paintings  of,  35,  38,  75 ;  in- 
structs C.  W.  Peale,  82. 

Hesselius,  Mrs.  John,  marriage, 
16  ;  "  Family  Picture"  by,  17. 

Hesselius,  Samuel,  Swedish 
missionary,  15. 

Hewson,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  David 
Caldwell),  193,  194. 

Heyward,  James  H.,  150. 

Heyward,  Maria  Miles,  168. 

He3rward,  Mrs.  James  H.  (De- 
cima  C.  Shubrick),  miniature 
of,  150. 


INDEX 


Heyward,  Thomas,  Jr.,  150. 

Heyward,  William,  168. 

Hillard,  Nicholas,  230. 

Hoffman,  Charles  Fenno,  154. 

Hoffman,  J.  Ogden,  156. 

Hoffman,  Matilda,  miniature  of, 
154,  158 ;  engaged  to  Washing- 
ton Irving,  156;  early  death, 
157. 

Hoffman,  Mrs.  J.  Ogden,  154,  155, 
160. 

Hogarth,  William,  44. 

Holbein,  Hans,  229. 

Hollingsworth,  Katharine  (Mrs. 
George  Robinson),  courtship 
of,  29,  30. 

Hollingsworth,  Valentine,  29. 

Hone,  Horace,  233. 

Hone,  Nathaniel,  233. 

Hopkinson,  Francis,  verses  on 
Woolaston,  22,  41,  145 ;  friend 
of  Benjamin  West,  42,  50; 
visits  the  Wests  in  Lrondon,  62. 

Hopkinson,  Hon.  Thomas,  min- 
iature of,  42. 

Hopkinson,  Judge  Joseph,  145,216. 

Hopkinson,  Mrs.  Thomas,  min- 
iature of,  42. 

Hoppner,  John,  182. 

Hoskins,  John,  231. 

Humphrey,  Ozias,  235. 

Hunt,  Isaac,  49. 

Hunt,  Leigh,  49. 

Hunter,  Ann  (Mrs.  John  Falcon- 
net),  57. 

Hunter,  Katharine  (Countess  de 

Carignan),  57. 
Huntingdon,  Daniel,  143. 

I 

Ingham,  Charles  C,  painting  in 
New  York,  201. 

Inman,  Henry,  154,  179,  200. 

Irving,  Washington,  78 ;  de- 
scribes the  Madisons,  128 ;  en- 
gagement with  Matilda  Hoff- 
man, 154-158 ;  meets  J.  W.  Jar- 
vis,  180. 


Isabey,  Jean  Baptiste,  minia- 
tures by,  235,  236. 

Ives,  Chauncey  B.,  214. 

Izard,  General  George,  of  South 
Carolina,  205. 

Izard,  Mrs.  Ralph,  73,  151. 

Izard,  Ralph,  42,  73,  113. 

J 

Jackson,  General  Andrew,  191, 
192. 

Jackson,  Major  William,  90, 114. 
Jackson,  Mrs.  Andrew  (Rachel 

Donelson),  192. 
Jans,  Anneke,  26,  28. 
Jans,  Marritje,  26. 
Jarvis,  John  Wesley,  168, 178, 179, 

180. 

Jay,  John,  Chief  Justice,  114,  143. 
Jay,  Mrs.  John,  143. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  110,  139. 
Jenkins,  Lrydia  (Mrs.  Beverly 

Robinson),  221. 
Jennings,  E.,  78,  79,  87,  89. 
Jocelyn,  Nathaniel,  artist,  203, 

204. 

Johnson,  Lawrence,  190. 
Johnson,  Thomas  Jennings,  Esq., 
17, 18. 

Johnston,  Elizabeth  Bryant,  130, 
131. 

Johnston,   Mrs.    Henry   E.,  of 

Baltimore,  miniature  of,  221. 
Jordan,  John  W.,  12. 

K 

Kauffmann,  Angelica,  43,  183. 
Keith,  Governor  William,  24. 
Keith,  Lady  Anne,  24. 
Kemble,  Charles,  186,  226. 
Kemble,   Frances  Anne  (Mrs. 

Pierce  Butler),  186,  214. 
Kennedy,  Hon.  Robert,  135. 
King,  Charles  B.,  183,  193. 
King,  Rufus,  1x4. 
King,  Samuel,  74,  149,  193. 
Kirkbride,  Colonel  Joseph,  164. 
Kneller,  Sir  Godfrey,  12-15,21,233. 


INDEX 


Knox,  General,  115. 
Kortright,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.James 
Monroe),  129. 

L 

Lafayette,  Marquis  de,  95,  201. 
Lallemand,  General,  191. 
Lallemand,    Madame  (Harriet 

Clark),  191. 
Lambdin,  James  R.,  210. 
Lane,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Henry  E. 

Johnston),  presides  over  White 

House,  2ig,  220,  221 ;  miniature 

of,  221. 

Laurens,  Colonel  John,  of  South 
Carolina,  miniature  of,  go. 

Lawrence,  Mrs.  Rachel  Jackson, 
192. 

Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  108,  148, 

149, 182,  211. 
Lear,  Colonel  Tobias,  miniature 

of,  13X. 

Leisler,   Hester   (Mrs.  Barent 

Rynders),  28,  29. 
Leisler,  Jacob,  usurps  authority 

in  New  York,  26,  27;  reversal 

of  attainder,  28. 
Leisler,  Mary  (Mrs.  James  Mil- 
bourne),  28. 
Leisler,  Mrs.  Jacob,  miniature 

of,  26,  28,  29. 
Leitch,  Major,  18. 
Leitch,  Sarah,  18,  19. 
Lely,  Sir  Peter,  12,  232. 
Lenox,  James,  200. 
Leslie,  Charles  R.,  66,  209,  226. 
Lincoln,    Abraham,  miniature 

painted  by  J.  H.  Brown,  223; 

artist's  impressions  of,  224. 
Lincoln,   Mrs.    Abraham,  223, 

224. 

Lippincott,  Mrs.  (Grace  Green- 
wood), 211. 

Liston,  Lady,  124,  125. 

Liston,  Sir  Robert,  124,  125. 

Livingston,  Chancellor,  130,  139. 

Livingston,  Christina  (Mrs.  John 
Macomb),  135. 


Livingston,    Eugene,   of  New 

York,  222. 
Livingston,  Mrs.  Henry  Beek- 

man,  miniature  of,  205. 
Lloyd,  Edward,  courtship  of, 

31- 

Lloyd,  Elizabeth,  32.   (See  Mrs. 

John  Cadwalader.) 
Lloyd,  Philemon,  31. 
Logan,  James,  33. 
Longacre,  James  B.,  engraver 

and  painter,  121,  170. 
Longacre,  Mrs.James  M.,  138. 
Loockermans,  Govert,  26. 
Lootman,  Mary,  134. 
Lootman,  Willibrord,  134. 

M 

McCall,  Archibald,  miniature  of, 
i3»  M- 

McCall,  Mary  (Mrs.  William 
Plumsted),  miniature  of,  13. 

Macomb,  Alexander,  134,  135. 

Macomb,  Alexander,  Major-Gen- 
eral, 135. 

Macomb,  Ann  (Mrs.  William 
Wilson),  135. 

Macomb,  John,  135. 

Macomb,  Mrs.  Alexander  (Cath- 
arine Navarre),  miniature  of, 
134,  135- 

Mackubin,  James,  miniature  of, 
202. 

Mackubin,  Mrs.  James  (Martha 
Rolle),  202. 

Maddox,  Joshua,  13. 

Madison,  James,  128,  139. 

Madison,  Mrs.  James,  128. 

Malbone,  Edward  Greene,  stud- 
ies with  Samuel  King,  74,  149 ; 
early  years,  147-149;  meets 
Washington  Allston,i49;  min- 
iatures in  Charleston,  150,  151 ; 
paints  "  The  Hours,"  151 ;  New 
England  miniatures  by,  152, 
153,  164 ;  New  York  minia- 
tures by,  154,  155;  paints  in 
Philadelphia,   x6o ;  character 


INDEX 


of  work,  152,  164,  165,  237  ;  min- 
iatures of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alex. 
Bleecker  by,  165 ;  early  death, 
166. 

Marshall,    Christopher,  color 

shop  of,  86. 
Marshall,  Janet  (Mrs.  Alexander 

Macomb),  135. 
Mason,  Dr.  Benjamin,  175. 
Mason,   George   C,  American 

author,  121, 124. 
Mason,  Mrs.  George  C,  138. 
Meade,  General  George  G.,  202, 

235. 

Meade,  George,  235. 

Meade,  Mrs.  Richard  W.,  min- 
iature of,  202,  203. 

Meade,  Richard  Worsam,  202, 
203 ;  miniature  of,  235. 

Meng,  John,  24,  43,  44. 

Mifflin,  John  Fishbourne,  142. 

Mifflin,  Mrs.  John  P.,  miniature 
of,  142. 

Miles,  Edward,  court  painter  in 
England  and  Russia,  208-210; 
painting  in  Philadelphia,  210, 
237 ;  miniatures  by,  240. 

Miles,  Edward  S.,  208,  211. 

Milligan,  Samuel,  miniature  of, 
208. 

Milnor,  Joseph  K.,  miniature  of, 
164. 

Mitchell,  Dr.  John  K.,  Sr.,  216. 

Mitchell,  Dr.  S.  Weir,  Ameri- 
can author,  214;  miniature  of, 
242. 

Monroe,  James,  miniature  of,  by 

Sene,  128,  129. 
Monroe,  Mrs.  James,  portraits 

of,  129. 

Montgomery,  Mrs.  James  (Hes- 
ter Griffitts),  miniature  of,  83, 
91. 

Moore,  Williamina,  32. 
Mordecai,  Mrs.  Alfred,  159. 
Morris,  Cadwalader,  miniature 

of,  34,  35. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Cadwalader,  34,  35. 


Morris,  Mrs.  Robert,  91, 114. 
Morris,  Mrs.  Samuel  (Hannah 

Cadwalader),  33,  34 ;  miniature 

of,  35. 

Morris,  Robert,  91,  114,  124. 
Morris,  Samuel,  33. 
Muhlenberg,  William  Augustus^ 
222. 

Mullins,  Priscilla,  29. 
Murray,  Elizabeth  H.,  16,  17. 
Murray,  Maria,  19. 
Mygatt,  Mrs.  S.  M.,  131. 

N 

Napier,  Lord  and  Lady,  220. 

Navarre,  Catharine,  134.  (See 
Mrs.  Alexander  Macomb.) 

Navarre,  Robert,  134,  135. 

Neagle,  John,  artist,  121,  189. 

Newbold,  Mrs.  Clement  B.,  min- 
iature of,  230. 

Nicholas,  Anne,  170. 

Nicholson,  Governor  of  New 
York,  27. 

Nicolay,  John  G.,  224. 

Nixon,  Colonel  John,  miniature 
of,  89. 

O 

Odenheimer,  Bishop,  216. 

Oliver,  Isaac,  230,  231. 

Oliver,  Peter,  231. 

Opie,  John,  67. 

Orr,  Alexander  D.,  127. 

Otis,  Mrs.  Samuel  Allyne,  53. 

P 

Palmer,  John  Williamson,  31. 

Patterson,  Robert,  92. 

Peale,  Angelica  (Mrs.  Alexander 
Robinson),  97-99,  126. 

Peale,  Anna  Claypoole  (Mrs. 
William  Stoughton),  minia- 
ture painter,  190;  miniatures 
by,  191. 

Peale,  Charles  Willson,  minia- 
tures by,  21,  76,  79,  82,  89,  91, 96, 
125,  126 ;  recollections  of,  25, 26, 


INDEX 


69,  72,  144;  describes  Benjamin 
West,  43  ;  studies  with  West, 
73,  88 ;  portraits  and  minia- 
tures of  Washington,  75-79, 
126  ;  birth  and  early  years,  81 ; 
lessons  with  Hesselius,  82 ; 
courtship  and  marriage,  83-85 ; 
painting  in  Maryland,  83,  100; 
painting  in  Philadelphia,  86, 
89 ;  army  life,  go ;  establishes 
his  museum  in  Philadelphia, 
92-94;  gives  dinner  in  mu- 
seum, 93 ;  early  engravings,  95 ; 
second  marriage,  96-99 ;  ar- 
tistic children  of,  100 ;  men- 
tioned, 75,  119,  138,  190. 

Peale,  Elizabeth  Digby  (Mrs. 
Captain  Polk),  81. 

Peale,  Franklin,  scientist,  92, 
loi ;  puts  out  fire  in  State 
House,  94. 

Peale,  James,  brother  of  Charles 
Willson,  miniature  painter, 
35,  81,  190,  192 ;  miniatures  by, 
96,  125-128. 

Peale,  Mrs.  Charles  W.  (Eliza- 
beth de  Peyster),  96-100,  126. 

Peale,  Mrs.  Charles  W.  (Rachel 
Brewer),  83-86,  90. 

Peale,  Raphaelle,  100,  190. 

Peale,  Rembrandt,  78,  81,  93,  100, 
190. 

Peale,  Rubens,  93,  100. 

Peale,  Sarah  M.,  192. 

Peale,  Sophonisba  (Mrs.  Cole- 
man Sellers),  miniature  of,  100. 

Pearson,  Mrs.  J.  G.,  miniature 
of,  201. 

Pelham,  Henry,  55,  56. 

Pelham,  Peter,  51. 

Pemberton,  Joseph,  14. 

Penn,  William,  Proprietary,  33, 
38. 

Perkins,  Augustus  T.,  52,  62. 
Perkins,  Mrs.  Edward,  53. 
Peters,  Honorable  Richard,  190. 
Pine,  Robert  Edge,  English  ar- 
tist, 100 ;  anecdotes  of,  144,  145. 


Plumsted,  Mrs.  George,  142. 
Plumsted,  Mrs.  William  (Mary 

McCall),  miniature  of,  13. 
Plumsted,  William,  Mayor  of 

Philadelphia,  13. 
Pope,  Alexander,  204. 
Pope,  Charles  M.,  miniature  of, 

204. 

Pope,  Mrs.  Charles  M.,  204. 

Powel,  Abigail,  gi. 

Powel,  John  Hare,  182. 

Powel,  Samuel,  Mayor  of  Phila- 
delphia, 32,  33,  170. 

Pratt,  Matthew,  in  England,  51, 
69,70;  ancestry  and  early  life, 
68,  69  ;  paints  in  Philadelphia, 
71,  178  ;  paints  signs,  72. 

Pratt,  Mrs.  Henry  (Rebecca  Clay- 
poole),  miniature  of,  42,  69. 

R 

Ramage,  John,  artist,  126,  133, 
I34»  136. 

Ramsey,  Col.  Nathaniel,  81,  92. 
Randolph,  Richard  Kidder,  164. 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  12,  43,  44, 

67,  121,  129,  182;  relations  with 

John  Trumbull,  109 ;  impulse 

given  to  art  by,  233. 
Richardson,  Thomas  Miles,  40. 
Ringgold,  Mrs.  Samuel  (Maria 

Cadwalader),  32. 
Rittenhouse,  David,  89. 
Roberts,  Hannah  M.,  127. 
Robertson,   Alexander,  129-132, 

193- 

Robertson,  Andrew,  132,  207,  236, 
237. 

Robertson,  Archibald,  129,  132, 
236. 

Robertson,  Emily,  129,  236. 
Robertson,  Walter,  132. 
Robinson,  Beverly,  of  New  York, 
221. 

Robinson,  Faith,  102.    (See  Mrs. 

Jonathan  Trumbull.) 
Robinson,  George,  courtship  ot 

30- 


INDEX 


Robinson,  J.,  miniatures  by,  208. 
Rodney,  Admiral  George 

Brydges,  miniature  of,  56. 
Rodney,  Caesar,  signer,  56. 
Rodney,  William,  56. 
Rogers,  Mrs.  Philip,  miniature 

of,  19,  20. 
Rogers,  Philip,  Esq.,  16,  ig. 
Rose,  Susan  Penelope,  232. 
Ross,  Clementina  (Mrs.  J.  T. 

Mifflin),  142. 
Ross,  John,  142. 
Ross,  Margaret,  142. 
Rowan,  James,  153. 
Rush,  Dr.  Benjamin,  178. 
Rush,  William,  sculptor,  25. 
Rynders,  Barent,  29. 

S 

Saint  Memin,  Charles  B.  J.  F,, 
135,  137-139. 

Sanders,  Lewis,  170. 

Sands,  Robert  C,  154. 

Sartain,  Emily,  225. 

Sartain,  John,  engraver  and  ar- 
tist, 170,  224,  226 ;  miniatures 
by,  225. 

Schuyler,  Cornelia,  113,  139. 

Schuyler,  General  Philip,  113. 

Schuyler,  Peter,  27. 

Sellers,  Coleman,  miniature  of, 
100. 

Sellers,  Horace  W.,  93. 

Sellman,  Major  Jonathan,  min- 
iature of,  96. 

Seymour,  Mary  Julia,  113. 

Sharpe,  Horatio,  Governor  of 
Maryland,  87. 

Sharpies,  James,  146. 

Shaw,  Angeline  (Mrs.  Seth 
Craige),  216. 

Shelley,  Samuel,  151,  235. 

Sheriff,  Charles,  130. 

Shewell,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Benja- 
min West),  48-51. 

Shewell,  Mary  (Mrs.  Isaac 
Hunt),  49. 

Shewell,  Stephen,  48,  49. 


Shewell,  Thomas  F.,  48,  50,  51. 
Shippen,    Anne    Hume  (Mrs. 

Henry  Beekman  Livingston), 

205. 

Shippen,  Dr.  William,  Jr.,  36, 
205. 

Shippen,  Edward,  of  Philadel- 
phia, 42. 

Shippen,  Joseph,  41,  91. 

Shippen,  Mrs.  Joseph  (Jenny 
Galloway),  40,  41. 

Shippen,  Thomas  Lee,  205. 

Shoemaker,  Samuel,  40,  63-66. 

Shore,  Mary  Louise,  36. 

Shore,  Mrs.  Thomas,  miniature 
of,  36. 

Shubrick,  Decima  Cecilia,  150. 

Shubrick,  Sarah  Alicia,  150. 

Shuckburg,  Dr.,  136. 

Simmons,  Margaret  H.,  192. 

Smart,  John,  235. 

Smibert,  John,  38,  73,  82,  83, 104. 

Staats,  Carolina,  28. 

Stagg,  Major,  97. 

St.  Clair,  Sir  John,  miniature  by 

Copley,  56. 
Steele,  John,  127. 
Stevenson,  Mary,  193,  194. 
Stevenson,  Mrs.  Margaret,  193. 
Stirling,    William  Alexander, 

Lord,  42. 
Stoughton,  Mrs.  William  (Anna 

C.  Peale),  190,  191. 
Strettell,  Amos,  miniature  of, 

35. 

Strettell,  Anne,  34.   (See  Mrs, 

Cadwalader  Morris.) 
Strettell,  John,  35. 
Stuart,    Gilbert,    studies  with 

Benjamin  West,  62,  73, 105, 120 ; 

early  life,  119;  anecdotes  of, 

121,  122,  181 ;  charm  of  style, 

122,  123  ;  miniatures  attributed 
to,  124 ;  portraits  copied  in 
miniature,  124,  169,  203;  men- 
tioned, 132,  147,  182,  190,  203. 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  Sr.,  father  of  the 
artist,  122. 


INDEX 


Sully,  Blanche,  184-189. 

Sully,  Lawrence,  177,  178,  181. 

Sully,  Mary  C.  (Mrs.  John  Nea- 
gle),  189. 

Sully,  Mrs.  Thomas,  181. 

Sully,  Robert,  12. 

Sully,  Rosalie,  189. 

Sully,  Thomas,  early  life,  167, 
177,  178,  179 ;  occupies  studio 
with  Trott,  i6g,  184;  minia- 
tures by,  176  ;  first  visit  to 
London,  182,  183,  226;  portrait 
of  Queen  Victoria,  186-189;  nien- 
tioned,  70,  120,  226. 

Swift,  Dr.  Joseph,  50. 

T 

Taylor,  Edith  Moore,  miniature 
of,  228. 

Taylor,  Emily  Drayton,  minia- 
ture painting  as  an  art,  227, 
245;  miniatures  by,  228,  230, 
242. 

Teerlinck,  Levina,  230. 

Temple,  Sir  John,  55,  105. 

Thompson,  Anne  (Mrs.  Elbridge 
Gerry),  134. 

Tilghman,  Colonel  Tench,  79. 

Tisdale,  Elkanah,  115,  168,  180. 

Trapier,  Mrs.  Paul,  miniature 
of,  150,  232. 

Trott,  Benjamin  F.,  miniature 
painter,  124,  143,  169,  170,  180, 
182,  184,  243. 

Trumbull,  Colonel  John,  studies 
with  Benjamin  West,  63,  64, 
73  ;  ancestry  and  early  life,  101- 
104  ;  portraits  and  miniatures, 
105,  106,  110-115,  181 ;  travels  on 
the  continent,  109,  no;  per- 
sonal characteristics, 114 ;  mar- 
riage, 115;  mentioned,  119,  178. 

Trumbull,  Faith  (Mrs.  Daniel 
Wadsworth),  104,  113;  minia- 
tures of,  112,  115. 

Trumbull,  Governor  Jonathan,  of 
Connecticut,  loi,  102. 

Trumbull,  Mrs.  Daniel  L.,  135. 


Trumbull,  Mrs.  John,  miniature 
of,  115. 

Trumbull,  Mrs.  Jonathan  (Faith 
Robinson),  miniature  of,  102. 

Truxton,  Commodore,  25. 

Tuckerman,  Henry  T.,  154,  172, 
200,  206. 

Tymens,  Elsje  (Mrs.  Jacob  Leis- 
ler),  26. 

V 

Vallaye,  Angelica,  miniature  of, 
191. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Geertruyd,  27. 
Van  Cortlandt,  Stephanus,  27. 
Vandyck,  Anthony,  12,  231,  232, 
243. 

Van  Rensselaer,  General  John 
Jeremiah,  miniature  of,  136. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Jeremiah,  136. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Johannes,  136. 

Van  Rensselaer,  Mrs.  Henry, 
miniature  of,  193. 

Verplanck,  G.  C,  154,  155. 

Verplanck,  Mrs.  G.  C,  miniature 
of,  155. 

Victoria,  Queen  of  England,  por- 
trait by  Thomas  Sully;  de- 
scribed by  Miss  Sully,  185-189. 

Vining,  Mary,  175. 

W 

Wadsworth,  Colonel  Jeremiah, 
"3. 

Wadsworth,  Daniel,  113,  115, 
213. 

Wadsworth,  General  James  S., 
194. 

Wadsworth,  Mrs.  Daniel,  113. 

(See  Faith  Trumbull.) 
Wadsworth,    Mrs.    James  S. 

(Mary  Wharton),  194,  195. 
Wagner,  John,  145. 
Wagner,  Samuel,  Jr.,  227. 
Wales,  Prince  of,  visit  to  Amer« 

ica,  220. 

Wall,  Jane  Grey,  36.  (See  Mrs. 
Thomas  Shore.) 


INDEX 


Wallace,  Hon.  John  William, 
LL.D.,  207. 

Walters,  John,  paints  minia- 
tures, 73,  74. 

Washington,  General,  portrait 
by  Peale,  77-80;  by  Trumbull, 
103,  XII,  114;  by  Wright,  118; 
by  Stuart,  123;  by  James  Peale, 
127 ;  by  W.  Robinson,  132 ;  by 
Saint  Memin,  139;  by  Birch, 
143;  by  Wertmiiller,  145;  men- 
tioned, 95,  96,  99,  130,  135,  164- 
168,  179, 190,  202,  205,  206. 

Washington,  Martha,  21,  79,  80, 
91,  123,  128,  131,  134. 

Watson,  Brook,  54. 

Watson,  Elkanah,  116, 117,  118. 

Watson,  John,  early  artist,  23, 
24,  38. 

Wayne,  Isaac,  40. 

Webb,  General  Samuel  B.,  of 
Connecticut,  90. 

Welsh,  Joseph,  143. 

Welsteed,  Rev.  William,  51. 

Wentworth,  Lady,  53. 

Wertmiiller,  Adolph  Ulric,  Swe- 
dish artist,  145,  146. 

West,  Benjamin,  birth  and 
childhood,  38-40,  198 ;  portraits 
by,  41 ;  friends  and  patrons  of, 
42;  goes  to  Italy,  43;  estab- 
lished in  London,  44,  45,  116; 
picture  for  Pennsylvania  Hos- 
pital, 45-47 ;  appointed  painter 
to  the  King,  48,  49;  romantic 
marriage  to  Miss  Shewell, 
48-51  ;  kindness  shown  to 
American  artists,  62,  68,  87, 107, 
108,  182 ;  instructs  American 
artists,  63,  70, 73,  88, 106, 141, 143, 
226;  friendship  of  George  III. 
for,  65,  66 ;  funeral  of,  67, 
68;  character  of  work,  72,  75, 
129,  183 ;  Trumbull  and  Stuart 
study  with,  105,  108,  log,  119- 
121 ;  opinion  of  Malbone's 
work,  151 ;  love  for  American 
home,  184 ;  president  of  Royal 


258 


Academy,  226 ;  mentioned,  2, 5, 
64»  69,  70,  81,  140. 
West,  John,  father  of  Benjamin, 
38. 

West,  Mary  (Mrs.  David  H. 
Conyngham),  miniature  of,  141. 

West,  Mrs.  Benjamin,  elope- 
ment of,  48-51 ;  in  England, 
62-65. 

Wetherill,  John,  236. 

Wetherill,  Martha,  214.  (See 
Mrs.  William  W.  Young.) 

Wetherill,  Rebecca,  miniature 
of,  213,  214. 

Wetherill,  Samuel,  213,  236. 

Wharton,  John,  194. 

Wharton,  Joseph,  Jr.,  45,  47,  iig, 
120. 

Wharton,  Samuel,  32. 
Wheatley,  Mrs.  Charles  M.,  34. 
White,  Bishop,  42,  48;  assists 

Miss  Shewell  to  elope,  50,  51; 

mentioned,  125,  142,  210. 
Whitehorne,  Mrs.,  sister  of  E, 

G.  Malbone,  148. 
Whiting,  Stephen,  52. 
Wilcocks,  Benjamin,  169,  182. 
Wilkins,  Hon.  William,  170. 
Willard,  Asaph,  211. 
Williams,  James,  miniature  of, 

169. 

Williams,  William,  early  artist, 
23,  40. 

Willing,  Dorothy  Francis  (Mrs. 

J.  W.  Wallace),  207. 
Willing,  Elizabeth,  114. 
Willing,  Maria   (Mrs.  Willing 

Francis),  207. 
Willing,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William, 

161. 

Willing,  Mrs.  Charles,  23. 
Wilmer,  Charles,  129. 
Wilson,  Mrs.  William,  135. 
Wilson,  Richard,  English  paint- 
er, 44. 

Winslow,  Elizabeth,  57. 
Witherspoon,  Dr.  John,  97. 
Wood,  Joseph,  artist,  178,  179. 


INDEX 


Woodward,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Ed- 
ward Brice),  xg. 

Woodward,  Mrs.  Henry,  i6. 
(See  Mrs.  John  Hesselius.) 

Woolaston^  John,  artist,  2x,  22, 
82. 

Worsam,  Henrietta  C,  235. 
Wrench,  Mary,  25,  26. 
Wright,  Joseph,  118. 
Wright,  Patience,  modeller  in 
wax,  1x5,  xx6,  XX7,  xxS. 


Y 

Yeates,  Hon.  Jasper,  miniature 

of,  205,  206. 
Yeates,  Mrs.  Jasper,  miniature 

of,  205. 

Young,  Mrs.  WiUiam  W.,  min- 
iature of,  214. 

Z 

Zucchero,  Frederick,  231. 


259 


GETTY  RESEARCH  INSTITUTE 


3  3125  01360  4752 


